Blood-Stained Shrine Maiden
by ChikaiItachi
Summary: This is the story of a world line where Rika takes matters into her own hands. She's been repeating worlds for some 70 years. This time, she's going to stain her hands with blood, eliminating any and all perceived or potential threats by any means necessary. First mission: eliminate Shion. Warning: this contains some adult content.
1. Prologue: Oyashiro-sama no Meirei

**Prologue: Oyashiro-sama no Meirei (Oyashiro-sama's Orders)**

 _How many times has it been? One hundred? Three hundred? Three thousand, perhaps? This ceaseless loop of mischance and woe leaves my heart and soul a little more depleted with each reawakening. I wake and start from scratch, with no idea of my situation at first. I live sometimes for ten years, sometimes for five, and sometimes for even fewer years before the inevitable happens. Someone always kills me in the end._

 _As I grow in each repetitive life, my perpetual Deja vu turns into the realization that this has all truly happened before. By the time I am eight to ten years old, I am aware that I am repeating history. I am aware of the presence of Oyashiro near me and in me. I am aware of my impending death. Yet I cannot change this ending. No matter what I do, I am killed, whether by someone in my friend group, or by villagers, or by outsiders, or by someone I cannot remember._

 _Every time I think I have hit rock-bottom, my despair deepens. Another lead fails. Another mishap ends in tragedy. Another small, unforseeable event triggers madness in those around me. I feel as though I've tried everything under the sun, but that's not quite true. There is one method I have not yet tried. It will be painful for me, and go against my last lingering concepts of morality. But it is something I haven't tried. I intend, therefore, to take this path, and bloody these hands that seem so helpless._

* * *

In the next world, Rika slowly became aware of herself as a seven year-old girl. As usual, she could not remember the previous worlds yet, nor could she recall who killed her most recently. A troubling sense of Deja vu followed her everywhere she went. Right before she turned eight, the mysterious deaths of Watagashi 1980 happened, with Satoko's parents falling to their death. Rika was close with Satoko and tried as best she could to help the unfortunate girl live with the unbearable pain of the loss.

It was then that Rika remembered. She knew the feelings of loss and pain already. This had all happened before. Everything came back to her mind like a flood of icy waters, and the damage nearly broke her. Only the company of the spirit Hanyuu (Oyashiro) kept Rika somewhat sane. At point she also recollected her plan to try something new in this world that she had never tried before. In order to get her plans in motion, she needed authority in the village and lots of help from adults. So she began to act right away.

With all of her memories of previous world lines returned to her, Rika made predictions about what would happen around her. She predicted things for her parents and for her classmates at school, and nine times out of ten, she was correct and the foretold event occurred. However, the people of Hinamizawa were quick to dismiss these prophecies as coincidence. They didn't take the little girl seriously. For a long year, Rika continued giving predictions even when she was scorned and punished and told to just grow up.

Finally, she predicted the deaths of her own father and mother. As expected, Head Priest Furude Michio died of an unknown illness after exhibiting symptoms of paranoia, violence, and mild to moderate psychosis. His wife Furude Noriko disappeared, leaving only a suicide note detailing how she drowned herself in the swamp. Her body was never found. Rika predicted all these things, and when they came to pass, the important people in Hinamizawa finally took notice of the little girl's strange gift.

The pain of losing her parents was not as great as it could have been, since Rika had already experienced it so many times. In fact, she almost celebrated their deaths because it finally led to her rise to power in the village. Rika was recognized as the prophet and voice of Oyashiro by the village leader, Kimiyoshi Kiichirou, and the Sonozaki family head, Sonozaki Oryou. After that, she attended village meetings, and had a say in anything and everything done by the three great families of Hinamizawa. Everyone respected her.

* * *

In a candlelit room in the Furude Shrine, Rika sat at one end of the long table used for town meetings. Around her were Sonozaki Oryou, the elderly lady with ferocious eyes and a harsh voice, Kimiyoshi Kiichirou, the usually even-tempered village leader who was balding on top, and Tastuyoshi Mamoru, a man a bit younger than the other two who commanded a group of yazuka under the supervision of the Sonozaki Group. Rika served everyone green tea and then took her seat with a grim expression. At first, she said nothing.

Kimiyoshi spoke first. "Well, it looks like you got your way again," he remarked with a smile at the little girl. "Not many people can demand a private audience with Oryou-sama, Tatsuyoshi-san, and myself. What is it you wanted to ask us, Rika-chan?"

Looking up at him, Rika's eyes caught the candlelight and looked fiery and fierce. "Please refrain from addressing me as 'Rika-chan,'" she said in the tone of voice she used when she acted as her true self, rather than the innocent little girl. "As the reincarnation of Oyashiro-sama, shrine maiden, and divine prophet, I ought to be addressed as Rika-sama. I would have thought by now you would have come to respect me at least that much."

For Kimiyoshi and the other grown-ups, it was jarring to hear a nine-year-old girl speak with adult mannerisms and use a relatively low-pitched voice. Kimiyoshi fidgeted awkwardly and said, "Ah, you're as baffling as ever Rika... uh, Rika-sama. Now, I certainly didn't mean to offend you. I only-"

"Stop jabbering," Oryou cut in with her sharp, cracked voice. "Let the girl speak."

"Thank you, Oryou-sama." Rika inclined her head to her elder. "As it happens, I did not summon you here to ask favors of you, but to give you my orders. I speak with the mouth of Oyashiro-sama. My divinations lately have been troubling. There is someone who could do great harm to Hinamizawa, and this person is planning to enter the village even as we speak. This cannot be allowed."

The listeners expected Rika to elaborate right away, but she became silent for a moment, sipping her tea with a strange calmness. Exchanging confused glances with Tatsuyoshi, old man Kimiyoshi decided to speak again. He cleared his voice.

"Don't keep us in the dark, Rika-chan-no, Rika-sama. Excuse me. What would you have us do?" For the next part, Kimiyoshi spoke carefully, trying his best not to be impertinent. "It's been ages since the people of Hinamizawa used violence to turn outsiders away. I trust you do not have anything that dark in mind, of course."

Rika looked at him square in the face and raised one eyebrow. It was ane expression that said even clearer than words that nothing was too dark for her to consider.

"We don't necessarily have to be violent," Tatsuyoshi interjected, voice deep and low. "We could give this person the same treatment we gave the Houjou family. They would be scorned and shunned by all the villagers. The stress and emotional toll would eventually force this outsider into leaving our village."

"I will order no such treatment," Rika answered simply. "This person I speak of-perhaps it would be more fitting to call her a demon. The demon must not be allowed to set foot in Hinamizawa. The solution is simple. She must be killed."

Hearing this and knowing she was serious, Kimiyoshi gave an audible gasp, Tatsuyoshi shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and even the old Sonozaki looked mildly surprised. Nobody knew what to say. They would have done almsot anything for Rika, but murder was just one shade too dark.

It was Oryou who spoke first. "Rika-sama," she began, "I respect you as our holy shrine maiden, and I will not ignore the warnings of our God. However, times have changed since the days of gods and demons. The Sonozaki Group is increasingly involved in the crimes that make up the world of the modern yakuza." She shot a knowing glance at Tatsuyoshi before continuing. "Ordering a hit on someone would only fan those flames. Therefore, I cannot condone the assassination of an innocent outsider."

"There you are mistaken, Oryou-sama." Despite herself, Rika smiled. She was disgusted with herself on some level, and yet she smiled. "The demon is not an outsider. And although she may be innocent now, there is no question that she will bring death and chaos to our peaceful town. The demon is your grandaughter, Sonozaki Shion."

"That's enough!" cried Kimiyoshi, knocking over his tea cup as he rose quickly to his feet. "I won't stand for this nonsense anymore. You are asking us to kill a member of our own family! I think of Shion-chan as my own grandchild, you know. Mamoru-san's son, Kasai, is Shion's personal bodyguard. Killing her is unthinkable!"

Oryou sipped her tea. "I can think of it easily enough," she said.

"Oryou-sama?!" Kimiyoshi was clearly taken aback.

"Is it so surprising?" The Sonozaki family head, despite being an elderly woman, looked and sounded more dangerous than anyone in the room. "Shion," she spat. "That girl should never have been born. I would have killed her myself if my daughter and her idiotic husband hadn't blackmailed me to keep me away from the infants. When two heirs are born, only misfortune follows."

At that point, Rika understood why Shion called her grandmother "oni-baba," demon-hag. Aloud she said, "I'm glad we agree, Oryou-sama. As expected of the Sonozaki Family Head." She turned her head toward the old man on his feet. "It seems Kimiyoshi doubts me. Well then, old man, let me tell you something. If Shion comes to Hinamizawa, she will at the very least undermine your authority in the village, and at the very worst murder you. If you have any regard for your own well-being, you will meet my demands."

Silence followed again for a minute before Tatsuyoshi Mamoru spoke. "Pardon me, Furude Rika-sama?"

"What is it? Speak freely." Rika looked him in the eye unblinkingly as she didwith everyone when she wasn't pretending to be an innocent little girl. "Tatsuyoshi-san, you command the more militant members of the Sonozaki Group. You will have the biggest hand in seeing my orders carried out, so your cooperation is critical. If you have concerns, I will gladly hear them."

Tatsuyoshi bowed his head briefly. "Thank you, Rika-sama. Your predictions have yet to be wrong. I believe in you. Even if that were not the case, I follow the orders of Oryou-sama, and she seems to have no qualms regarding this matter. However, I cannot say the same for my son. Practically speaking, Kasai is the best suited to get rid of the demon for us. But I know my son. He would sooner die than harm the girl he swore to protect."

Spinning her empty teacup around on the table, Rika took a moment to respond. "I am not so cruel as you think, Tatsuyoshi-san," she told him finally. "Tatsuyoshi Kasai will not be ordered to eliminate the demon. I would like you to instead find a suitable hitman among your yazuka network and order him to do the deed. Kasai will be told nothing of this plan, and it will take place on an evening when Shion is out and about in Okinomiya without him there."

"That is a feasible plan, Rika-sama." Tatsuyoshi seemed satisfied. "One other matter," said Rika sternly. "Be sure the hired gun is worthy, according to the honor of the Sonozaki Group. He needs to be professional. We cannot have some city thug botch the mission, not for any reason. Should the hitman fail, the wrath of Oyashiro-sama shall fall upon him, and the Three Great Families of Hinamizawa shall dispose of him."

"To be sure, Rika-sama," the yakuza man confirmed.

Meanwhile, Kimiyoshi stood and wringing his hands in distress. "But to think... the child, she..."

"What is it, Kimiyoshi-sama?" asked Rika placidly. "You still doubt me? Sonozaki Shion is the one person in this whole world who is more likely than any other to murder you in cold blood. I have seen it happen. I want you to follow my orders and go along with the plan, but believe me when I say I do not mean to show you disrespect. I certainly am not threatening you. I am trying to look out for your health."

The old man ran a hand through the gray hair that grew only on the back of his head. "If Shion-chan kills me," he said slowly, "it must be because of the crimes of the Three Great families. Perhaps it is my karma to die for her sense of justice. So, tell me." He gazed at Rika intently. "Is Shion-chan a danger to anyone besides myself? If he is a threat to the village as a whole, or to anyone innocent, I'll agree with your plan."

"In my visions," Rika responded, "I have seen Shion committing unthinkable atrocities. She murders her grandmother and mutilates her corpse. She discards the corpse in a well. She furthermore murders a child, and imprisons Sonozaki Mion with the intent to kill her as well. These visions are not futures set in stone, but some or all of them are likely realities depending on the course of events."

"Such a monster must be eliminated," Tatsuyoshi stated. He took Rika's predictions seriously, as did everyone else in the room.

"Do you consent, Kimiyoshi-sama?" Rika asked the village leader.

Kimiyoshi sighed and returned to his seat. Then he said in a defeated voice, "...Very well."


	2. Futago no Imouto Shion

**2: Futago no Imouto Shion (Shion the Younger Twin Sister)**

St. Lucia Academy for girls was a strict, implacable place with almost more rules than students. The uniforms were uncomfortable, the curriculum was overloaded with western Christianity, chapel three days a week was required, teachers were hard-nosed and graceless, clubs were rarely allowed, dating was not allowed, working a part-time job was not allowed, and curfew was nine at night even on weekends. Students were shamed and punished harshly for being late, absent, failing to turn in homework, and not being ladylike enough. Being struck with a wand was common.

Life was difficult for the best of the students at St. Lucia Academy. For Sonozaki Shion, it was even worse. She was a natural free spirit who loved the taste of adventure. Her family rarely made any contact with the school, so the teachers had the opportunity to treat Shion however they wanted. They punished her for every little thing, humiliated her in class, destroyed her relations with classmates, and sometimes even denied her food in the cafeteria. The worst part of it all was that there was no break. Shion had to stay at St. Lucia all year round, never being allowed to return to her birthplace in Hinamizawa. For about two years, Shion was a captive, confined to the unsparing boarding school.

Finally, she could stand it no more, and she plotted to run away. In the dead of night, Shion climbed out of her dorm room window into a tree and then down. Then she climbed a tree on the edge of the lawn near the academy wall. She was able to get over the wall and drop down on the other side without injury. In her spare time, Shion had done a lot of athletic activities; otherwise the climbs and jumps would have proven too difficult. At last on the far side of the wall, Shion watched as a black car pulled up to the road in front of her.

Driving it was Tatsuyoshi Kasai. The escape plan would never have worked without his involvement. Many years ago, he had accepted his assignment as Shion's bodyguard, and he never once regretted it. Though he was a man of few words and did not show affection easily, Kasai was endlessly reliable for all things practical, and his obvious toughness was comforting, since it meant he could protect her from just about anyone. That was what Shion thought, anyway. She loved him like a close older brother.

Although Kasai remained mostly loyal to the Sonozaki family, he disagreed with them concerning the treatment of Shion. The main family would never have approved of the girl running away from St. Lucia, but nevertheless, Kasai helped in the escape. He picked up Shion outside the school and drove her to a two-bedroom apartment he kept for himself in Okinomiya, the next town over from Hinamizawa. Shion could live here comfortably under Kasai's supervision, and Okinomiya was a much larger, more developed town than Hinamizawa, so she would have plenty of freedom and opportunity.

"I'm going to get a part-time job," Shion announced happily as she and Kasai talked and caught up with each other. "I'm sure I'll like work better than school. Besides, I need to do my part if I'm going to be living with you."

"Shion-san," Kasai said just before the girl headed to bed that night. He had tried to avoid the topic, but at some point, they would have to face it. "What do you plan to do when Oryou-sama finds out?"

As he spoke, Kasai crossed the room and caught Shion's wrist to stop her. She turned and looked at him. He was a fine man, tall, medium-weight, and smartly dressed in a black suit. His facial hair started under his lip and went down in two thin lines on either side of his face, joining together at the bottom of his chin. The beard was short, and all along his face the hair was well-kept.

"It's one thing if you lie low here," the man said, "but it's another if you want to work a job. We're within biking distance of Hinamizawa."

Shion broke away from her bodyguard, but gave him a winning smile. "Well, I guess we'll just have to make sure oni-baba doesn't find out. Don't look so worried," she added, though in reality Kasai's shades and ever-straight face made his expression unreadable. "I have a plan. I think my dear sister Mion would help."

The plan was simple. She and Mion were identical twins. If anyone recognized her, she would pretend to be Mion. Of course, that meant that Mion had to agree to the arrangement. It also meant that Shion would need a supervisor who understood her situation and knew her real identity.

"Yoshiro-Oji-san was always nice to me," Shion thought aloud as she entered her room and undressed.

Fortunately, she had an uncle who lived in Okinomiya and ran a cafe called Angel Morte. Uncle Yoshiro was something of an outcast, despised by the main Sonozaki family for breaking traditions and not bothering to seek their approval for things. He also had a soft spot for Shion. Chances were good that he would hire the girl as a waitress at Angel Morte.

Kasai remained standing outside the slightly ajar door while Shion changed into a white nightgown. "Yoshiro aside," said the bodyguard, "what about Mion-san? Will she agree to help you?"

Opening the door half-way, Shion peered out at Kasai. The nightgown was tight across her breasts, which were large for a sixteen year old girl. Kasai had the decency to look off to the side.

"Of course she'll help me," Shion said confidently, but her confidence was false. She was faking. Her relationship with Mion was anything but simple, and she couldn't be certain of her sister's agreement.

Growing up, the twin girls had been as close as any normal twins. However, favoritism had a strong say in the way they were raised. Mion was several minutes older than Shion, and was consequently declared the heir to the Sonozaki house. (Oryou was the current head; her daughter Akane, the mother of the twins, had her birthright taken away as punishment for marrying an outsider.) Akane and her husband loved Mion, but were never quite as affectionate with Shion because they simply didn't know how to treat her. They weren't nearly as bad as Sonozaki Oryou, though. She was abusive toward Shion, having hated her since the day she was born.

While Mion enjoyed every privilege a rich yakuza-related family could offer, Shion was beaten and emotionally and verbally abused by her grandmother. This made things tense between the twins for a while. However, life wasn't all sweetness and light for Mion, either. She was held to different standards of behavior, and forced to learn all about the family and how to be a leader, from traditional etiquette (such as tea ceremonies) to self-defense (mostly kenjitsu). In addition, Mion sometimes pretended to be Shion and took the harsh punishments in place of her little sister. Because of that, the twins loved each other more than ever, and even slept in the same bed for many years.

They might still have been that close if Oryou hadn't decided to send Shion away to boarding academies starting in middle-school. From ages twelve to fourteen, Shion was allowed to come home during breaks such as summer vacation, but besides that, she had no contact with Mion. They were not permitted to speak on the phone to each other, though sometimes they sneaked and did it anyway.

After that, Oryou forced Mion to transfer into St. Lucia's Academy for two years of junior high. For two long years, Shion wasn't allowed home, and though she wrote letters back and forth with her sister, they were not nearly as close. Judging by those letters, Mion was becoming more and more like a member of the Sonozaki group, and Shion almost felt like she no longer knew the person she was writing. That was why, now, she couldn't be certain whether Mion would concede to defy her grandmother and help Shion with her plan.

As if sensing her feelings, Kasai said, "I have a telephone here. Tomorrow morning, I will call the main house and ask to speak with Mion-san. I'll hand over the phone then so the two of you can talk it out."

Again, Shion smiled. It was an easy thing to do in those days, before her real suffering began. "Thank you, Kasai," she said. Before she went to bed, she hugged him, and he grumbled as if to object, but patted her on the back.

"Good night, Shion," he said.

* * *

The next day, in Hinamizawa, Sonozaki Mion attended school in the tiny academy where there only twenty-some kids taught by one teacher in one class, regardless of grade level. The teacher, Chie-sensei, spent most of the class moving between the students and instructing each of them on what to read or study given their grade level.

Though Mion was as bright as the next girl, she had trouble keeping up in school because she got bored so easily. At home, she already had to listen to lectures from her mother and grandmother, as well as study village history, leadership skills, and proper etiquette. It was tiresome to have a lot of school on top of what she was learning at home. Things might be different if there were more people her age. Or if she had some real friends, regardless of age. But few people ever approached Mion, fearing her as the heir to the Sonozaki house, or else put off by how tomboyish she could be. So she remained lonely and bored.

This is what life had been like for Mion for the past two years; only recently had things begun to change. It started when she was approached by Furude Rika, who had rapidly risen to a position of authority in the village after she correctly predicted her parents' death last year. Supposedly, Rika was the reincarnation of Oyashiro-sama, god of Hinamizawa, and she possessed the ability to predict the future.

Mion had seen Rika at a few of the town council meetings. There, the shrine maiden spoke like an adult, solved various village troubles, and always seemed grim. She rarely smiled. However, when Rika approached Mion at school, she was like a different person. She was cheery, playful, childish but well-behaved, and utterly adorable. This side of Rika was so endearing that Mion became fast friends with the little girl. They studied together and played together, neither one of them caring too much about the age difference.

As time passed, Mion's circle of friends slowly grew. Rika started including Satoko in the time she spent with Mion. The Sonozaki heir supervised the little girls while they played, and often joined in their games. Then, Satoko's brother Satoshi joined in too. The boy always seemed a little "off," zoned out, unobservant, and melancholy. Mion tried to look past his faults, though, and accept him. Satoshi and Mion practiced baseball, studied, and walked to school together, usually accompanied by Rika and Satoko. The four friends truly enjoyed each other's company.

All that being said, Mion's friends did not think she looked very happy that day in early April 1982. Something was clearly bothering her. Though Rika and Satoko tried to get her to talk, Mion kept quiet about the truth. Her younger twin sister, Shion, had called her that morning, having run away from boarding school against the wishes of their domineering grandmother. Shion was looking for a job in Okinomiya and, to top things off, wanted permission to masquerade as her older sister.

Of course, Mion had to refuse. She could hardly believe her sibling would ask something like that of her. Did she not realize the many rules she was breaking? Did she not understand that Mion could be punished for Shion's actions under her sister's name? In the past, the twins had been inseparable and highly affectionate with each other. After Shion was sent away to boarding school, though, both girls changed and grew in different ways.

Mion became increasingly aware of her position as heir to the family, accepting many responsibilities, obeying her family always, and even subscribing to belief in Oyashiro-sama. Meanwhile, Shion seemed to grow more and more rebellious and careless, with a sarcastic sense of humor. It made Mion angry. She was also frustrated by the fact that Shion was so much more feminine than she was. From now on, it would be difficult to get along with Shion. All day, Mion thought about this, angry at Shion and worried about her at the same time.

* * *

Shion walked briskly through the dusky streets of Okinomiya, almost stomping in her anger. She had an expression of rage on her usually radiant face, and she didn't care who saw. Nothing was going her way today. Nothing. Her identity might be compromised already. She didn't have her sister's backing for her plan, she didn't have Yoshiro-san's anticipated support, and she didn't have a bike on which to ride home.

It had all started that morning when she spoke with her twin over the phone. At first, Mion seemed happy to hear her sister's voice after so long. However, it quickly became apparent that she disapproved of Shion's running away. She started talking about how much of disaster it would be when "Grandma" found out. Despite feeling that the conversation was doomed, Shion went ahead and told Mion she wanted to work in Okinomiya. Her sister responding saying that was a terrible idea, and Shion didn't even have to ask if she could use Mion's name as her cover. The answer was clear regardless. She could not count on Mion.

With or without Mion, she decided, she would continue with her plan to work and be an independent young woman. If Oni-baba found out about her being in Okinomiya, it couldn't be helped. Shion was old enough now to defend herself from an elderly lady's beating, and old enough not to be cowed by verbal abuse. At the time, beatings and harsh words were the only things she thought she might have to contend with. It never occurred to her that the family might use their yakuza ties against her.

Things didn't go well at Angel Morte, either. Uncle Yoshiro and Shion had exchanged letters once or twice in the past few months, and the former had written about how delighted he would be to have a waitress as young and pretty as the latter. The man had seemed warm, and open in the past, with a charming amount of mischievousness. In person, that day, Yoshiro was like a different man. He didn't seem to want to meet Shion. He made up excuses about having other things to do until Shion called bullshit. The café wasn't busy at all, so he had no reasonable excuse.

When he finally sat down with Shion in the back room, Yoshiro said he was sorry but he couldn't hire her. He wouldn't even look at the rough resume she had written up, using an ink brush and fine white paper. Shion bowed low and practically begged, but to no avail. Throughout the interview, Yoshiro seemed bothered by something he wasn't saying. This only served to anger Shion, who stormed out of the café angrily. By then, the sun was setting and the café nearing its closing hour.

Uncle Yoshiro managed to stop Shion long enough to offer her a ride home. The teenage girl declined none too politely, lying and saying that Kasai would take her home. In reality, Shion had asked Kasai to lay off and leave her alone today for once. Instead of being carted around in a car, she had decided to take herself around town by bike. She had ridden it from the apartment, through the downtown district, and all the way to where Angel Morte sat on a lonely edge of the growing town.

To her dismay, Shion found that her bike was no longer parked where she was sure she had left it. It was hard to believe that someone would have stolen it, but there didn't seem to be another answer. Shion knew she ought to go back inside and take Yoshiro up on his offer for a ride home, but she was too stubborn. She didn't call Kasai either, because depending on him so much felt embarrassing. Instead, she decided to walk home. It didn't matter if it took half the night. She could work off some steam this way and have some time alone.

Shion had no idea what the night had in store for her.


	3. Shion no Shiren (Shion's Ordeal)

**3: Shion no Shiren (Shion's Ordeal)**

 **A/N: Trigger warning: rape/sexual assault.**

Satoko had never known a peaceful life. Her memories were vague, but filled with stress and conflict. The one thing she knew for sure was that her mother, Setsuko, didn't care about her. No mother that cared about her young child would divorce and remarry so often. There at least three she could remember before Mr. Houjou. She did not even know the identity of her biological father. To Satoko, the men were coming in and out of her life were unwelcome strangers. She purposely misbehaved often in attempt to show that she didn't accept them. Each man responded with strict reprimands and sometimes abuse.

By the time Satoko was six and her mother married Mr. Houjou Isamu, the little girl had lost track of who had done what to her. In her mind, all the unpleasant occurrences rolled together, and all the faces of her stepfathers melted into one. They all became Houjou Isamu, and Satoko did whatever she could to sabotage him for perceived offenses against her. She made trouble for her mother too. Most of the things she did were pranks, such as pretending to run away from home, or cutting off the electricity with the power board, or moving precious items like jewelry from their rightful places to secret hiding places, or running lines of string along the floor for her parents to trip on and fall.

The earliest of Satoko's really clear memories was being slapped in the face by Houjou Isamu. That time, the devious little girl had gone too far and made a prank call to child services complaining of abuse. She was only six at the time, and the big man's blow sent her crashing down on her back, her head slamming painfully against the wooden floor. Satoshi was there almost before she could muster up the voice to begin wailing. He and his stepfather yelled at each other back and forth, until the older man punched his stepson in the face and stormed out of the room. Satoshi had a black eye for a week after that.

Her brother Satoshi, or Nii-Nii as she called him, was the only male Satoko ever felt she could trust. He was the only one who never hit her, called her names, or took away her things. Sometimes he did get angry and snap at her, but he never really yelled at her seriously. Satoko rarely played pranks on Satoshi or set traps for him, and on the rare occasions that she did, he would laugh and tell her she did a good job. Among the little girl's many unhappy recollections, Satoshi was the only light in the darkness, the only person whose face and voice made her smile instead of cringe.

In June 1980, just around the time Satoko turned eight, her parents fell from a cliff into the river while stopped at a scenic lookout point on the side of the road. Only the husband's body was ever found. Satoshi and others around her told Satoko that she had been present at the time that her parents fell, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember it. She couldn't remember anything from that year. Seeing her parents fall. Being interviewed by the police. Going to her parents' funeral. Going to school. Moving in with her aunt and uncle. Satoko recalled none of it. All she could remember was an unspeakable sense of dread.

Her memories didn't really start to become clear things in her head until the spring of the next year, 1981. That year, Satoko became aware that she was being treated badly by her aunt and uncle. Even though she had stopped purposely trying to upset them, they fussed at her, complained about her, and denied her any parental affection. When they were angry they yelled at her or hit her. Satoshi always tried to protect her, and constantly got into heated arguments with his aunt Houjou Tamae. Houjou Teppei, the husband, was always out drinking, gambling, or scamming people for money. He rarely came around the house. It was mostly Tamae that mistreated the children.

Tamae's abuse was not the trigger that awoke Satoko to being self-aware again. The trigger was her newfound friendship with Furude Rika, a girl about her age. The Furude family was always nice to her, and it was they who took her to the clinic every so often to see Dr. Irie. The shots he gave her hurt, but she always felt so much better after taking them. Being around Rika made Satoko's mood improve even more. Something about her was calming. Even though Rika's parents both died that June of 1981, Rika didn't ever seem to be particularly sad. She always stayed strong and stable for Satoko's sake.

In the present day, March 1982, almost-ten-year-old Satoko was best friends with Rika. The two were inseparable. They walked to and from school together each day. Rika helped Satoko with school work. Whenever possible, the two girls played together. Sometimes, Satoko was permitted to spend part of the day over at Rika's house, where she lived alone but for weekly check-ins from Dr. Irie and Chie-Sensei. Satoko felt that, besides her Nii-Nii, nothing in the world was better than being with Rika. That's why she was thrilled when Satoshi talked their aunt into letting Satoko spend the night over at Rika's house.

That night, the girls cooked together, bathed together, played cards, had pillow-fights, and even watched some television. Rika told stories about the legends of Hinamizawa and the people who were part demon. Satoko told Rika about all kinds of traps and showed her different ways to knot rope and string. The girls decided to sleep in one futon so they could snuggle up to each other. Neither of them seemed to mind that it was childish.

This was one of the best nights of Satoko's entire life. She thought the same would be true for Rika. However, to her confusion and alarm, Rika started crying in the middle of the night. For a while, all Satoko could do was hold Rika and tell her everything would be alright. It took several long minutes for Rika's body to stop shaking from sobs. Finally, the little shrine maiden wiped away her tears and looked solemnly into Satoko's eyes.

"I am a very bad girl, so-it-is," Rika said in a small voice.

"That's not true," Satoko argued. "Everyone says you're a good girl. The whole village loves and respects you. Your family was always kind to mine. You go with me to the clinic every day so I won't be alone for my shots. You're my first real friend and my very best friend. So how can you say you're bad?"

"I've done something terrible," Rika insisted, her voice still a little shaky. "Tonight, in Okinomiya, a girl will die. A girl who hasn't done anything wrong yet. And it will be my fault."

"I don't understand what you mean." Satoko was truly trying to understand. "Is this one of your predictions?"

"It's nothing." There was no use crying about it, Rika thought. She had already given the order. She had put out a hit on Sonozaki Shion. "Never mind, Satoko. It was a bad dream. Let's go to sleep."

* * *

Shion encountered the man on a downtown street where the most of the streetlamps were out and most of the shops were closed and dark. He walked quietly and was dressed darkly, but otherwise he seemed like any other person passing by, so Shion hardly noticed him. That is, until he came to a dead stop, turned around, and started walking casually beside her.

"Um, do I know you?" Shion asked, anger replaced by unsettling worries.

"I'm from the Sonozaki Group," replied the man vaguely. He was younger than Kasai, but dressed similarly in a dark suit, with a little hair on his lip and a little more on his chin. He was thin and wiry, from what could be told through the suit; his face looked wan and thin, and his teeth were yellowish when he smiled. "Try not to be alarmed. I'm on your side."

"I don't understand what you mean," Shion stammered, trying to back away, and looking around for other pedestrians who might be passing by. It occurred to her that she might scream.

"There is a man trying to kill you." The stranger stated the fact as coolly and easily as if he had been remarking about the weather or stock prices. "You have a bodyguard, don't you? Why isn't he with you?"

Shion decided not to scream and relaxed slightly. "It's my fault. I told him to lay off and I didn't call him for a ride. He's probably worried about me." Her voice fell to a whisper. "Are you being serious? Who would want to kill me?"

The man took her hand and started leading her away. "I'm perfectly serious," he said. "Lucky for you I came here to meet Kasai and tell him the rumor. The rumor that a small yakuza family in Okinomiya thinks you are Mion, and wants to kill you. I've already met up with Kasai in a secure location. Follow me there. Stop dragging your feet."

Though she walked as quickly as she could manage, it was difficult to keep up with the tall man's long strides. Shion could feel her heart thundering in her chest. Like the naïve child she was, she believed everything the man had said. Sher herself didn't know what to say; her throat was dry and her face was burning from shame. Why hadn't she ridden home with her uncle? Why had she been such a jerk to Kasai? He hoped he would at least slap her—she deserved it.

After about half an hour of brisk walking, the man leading her stopped beside an old, abandoned warehouse by the river. It seemed like a sketchy place, and Shion couldn't imagine why this man and Kasai had decided to meet here. Still, she did not question him, as he opened the padlock and began to move the sliding door made of heavy metal.

The man beckoned her inside ahead of him. "Ladies first," he said.

"Thank you," Shion answered politely.

Like a lamb, she obeyed, and stepped into the pitch blackness of the warehouse. She felt a sudden sharp pain in her head, and almost at the same time, a sweaty hand covered her mouth to stop her shout. Shion felt sick and dizzy, and suddenly fainted. Whatever had hit her was hard and made of metal.

The teenage girl revived some minutes later to find herself in a waking nightmare. Her wrists were tied together behind her back. Her ankles were bound as well. A cloth gag had been fixed tightly and painfully over her mouth, and she couldn't speak or shout. The warehouse was empty and bare but for a few stacks of crates and the rusted ruins of a pair of tractors. Shion could see it all by the light of a lantern—a lantern positioned on a crate beside the man who had captured her.

It was the same man as before. He had removed his blazer, which revealed the holster at his belt and the hefty little handgun within it. In one hand he held a lighter, and in another a glass pipe. The room smelled faintly of something like a chemical cleaner. Shion did not know the man had been smoking "shabu," but she was terrified enough without that knowledge. Before, on the street, she thought she had been afraid. But she was wrong. Only now, for the first time in her life, did she taste true fear.

"You're in luck, Ojou-chan," said the junkie after another hit. "The man hired to kill you was me. I had a mind to do it too, at first. But once I saw you I thought of what a terrible waste that would be. So I don't think I'll kill you."

The words sounded like distant white noise heard from a dream. Shion was soaked in a cold sweat and every inch of her was covered in goosebumps. Even if she could have spoken, she would not have known what to say.

"But, you know," the man continued, setting aside his pipe and lighter. "I am a man. Men have special needs. I'm sure you know something about it. You probably have a guy you fancy, and more than one guy has looked at you in that way; I guarantee it. Say, you're a good girl, aren't you? A virgin?"

Suddenly Shion felt physically sick. The urge to gag and throw up was tempting, but she had the sense to try holding it in. Otherwise she might choke, gagged in such a way. Her body shook and her stomach was a mess. Though she had been trying not to listen, not to move, not to breathe—to will herself to disappear—even so, Shion understood what the man meant.

The junkie knelt beside the place where the girl lay trembling. He brushed her face and bangs with his hand. "You are, aren't you?" he pressed. "A virgin?"

Shion almost nodded, when a thought struck her. Maybe this man only wanted a virgin. Maybe she shouldn't tell him the truth. If she lied, he might leave her alone. So she shook her head.

"What? You're not?" The man looked annoyed at first, but then an eerie smile crossed his thin features. "Well if you've already been dirtied, it doesn't matter, does it?" He tore her shirt down the middle as easily as if the cotton were made of brittle paper. "Cooperate with me, won't you?"

The feeling of helplessness was unbearable. Shion could only cry and whimper. The man spoke while he removed her skirt and unzipped his pants. "You'll try to understand me, won't you? You're a dirty girl, so you must want this sort of thing. That's why you can understand why I want it. I've never done this before." He moved on top of her and pulled her panties away and forced himself inside. "You see, I'm not going to kill you," he went on, "and that means I'll have to go into hiding, or they will kill me. They're yakuza, the real deal. In the end, they'll catch me and kill me for not doing my job. I don't want to die without knowing a woman. So forgive me, won't you?"

As her body shook with the man's rhythmic thrusts, Shion thought that the last thing she would ever do was forgive this monster. That's when something awoke within her. She realized she might be able to get at least one of her hands free if she struggled with the ropes enough. So she tried. While the stranger had his way inside her, Shion detached herself emotionally and focused all her energy on getting her hands free.

At last, her right hand slipped out from the bindings. At the same moment, the warehouse door opened, and the man on top of the girl nearly jumped in surprise. He was caught off-guard, looking at whoever had opened the door. Shion took advantage of the moment. Long ago, Kasai had let her fire a gun at a stack of bricks. This man here mattered less than bricks. So Shion drew the gun from the holster at his belt, jabbed it against his belly, and pulled the trigger.

It sounded like the very sky had split open with the boom of the gun firing. The recoil made Shion's wrist twist backward painfully. She knew she hadn't been holding it correctly. The man on top of her was gasping and shouting, and clutching at his white undershirt, which was rapidly turning dark red. Shion did not hear his cries. She did not feel his weight as he fell forward on top of her. The junkie's blood poured onto her and soaked her, but the girl was not conscious of any of it. She had passed out.

* * *

Only vague memories of the time shortly thereafter stayed in Shion's mind. She remembered the loud sirens of police and ambulance. Someone—a boy with blond hair and a beautiful face—was speaking to her, telling her it would be alright. Then she remembered being at the Okinomiya hospital and having a doctor ask her all sorts of questions. Lastly, she recalled the prick of an I.V. needle in her arm, and then soothing blackness and sleep.

The next morning, Shion awoke fully to find not just Kasai by her bed, but also Mion. The latter practically pounced on her sister, wrapping her in a loving embrace and saying, "Shion, Shion, Shion! Are you alright? Shion, I'm here for you!" Though she was bewildered, Shion felt happy to see her sister at last, and returned the embrace. They held each other for a few long seconds, Mion running a hand through her little sister's free, untied hair, Shion nuzzling her face against her older sister's chest. Then Kasai coughed politely, and the twins released each other, blushing.

Shion's bodyguard laid a hand on her shoulder gently and briefly. "We are glad you're alive," he said. For once, he wasn't wearing his shades, and his dark grey eyes were surprisingly kind. "I told only your sister about this. Old man Kimiyoshi and Oryou-sama know nothing of last night. They still don't know you are in Okinomiya, Shion."

"Will you keep it secret?" Shion implored her sister.

Mion nodded. "Of course. I'm sorry I was so cold before. Now that this has happened, I want to do whatever I can for you."

"Thank you." Shion looked immensely relieved.

"Do you remember much of what happened? We're sorry to have to ask," Mion added, "but we want you to know everything."

"I… don't remember what…" Shion seemed to be struggling. "…What happened after I shot him." The words sounded foreign and felt heavy on her tongue.

Mion turned to Kasai and asked him to step out of the room while she talked to her sister. It was what the doctor had ordered her to do when Shion woke up. When the twins were alone, Mion sat on the edge of the bed and took one of Shion's hands into both hers.

"Shion, you were raped by a known felon, a drug addict." Based on the furrow of Mion's brow and the moist look in her green-tinged eyes, it was difficult for her to say these things. But someone had to do it. "The doctor said you're unhurt besides the chafing on your wrists and ankles, and a bump on your head that doesn't seem serious. There was no concussion. Now listen, you shot that bastard in self-defense, and nobody's gonna hold it against you. He died in the hospital before the police could get much information from him. We believe he was part of a small but violent gang."

"At first," said Shion, trying not to shudder at the memory, "he said he was part of the Sonozaki Group."

"It may have been true at some point." Mion squeezed her sister's hand comfortingly. "Kasai said he recognized the bastard and gave us his name. At one point, he was with the Sonozaki group. However, he must have deserted the Group and took up with those bastards here in the city. I'm ashamed our family's Group ever had someone like that in it."

"What happened after?" Shion questioned, remembering faintly the face of the golden-haired boy. "Someone came into the warehouse while… while it was happening. I'm guessing it was that person that contacted the police and the ambulance."

This time Mion smiled. "That was Satoshi-kun. For once, he handled things well, haha."

"Satoshi?" The name had a pleasant ring to it.

"He's the son of the Houjou family," Mion stated. "You remember me writing about my little friends at school, Rika and Satoko? Satoshi-kun is Satoko-chan's big brother. He's airheaded but he's a good guy."

Houjou—it took a minute for Shion to remember the name and what was associated with it. The Houjou couple were the ones who tried to sell out the town back when the government wanted to build a dam that would leave Hinamizawa submerged. Viewing the Houjou couple as selfish traitors, the town turned against them, tormenting them however possible. Only the head Priest Furude had mercy for them.

The couple died bizarrely two years ago in 1980, inexplicably falling from a cliff into the river far below. The children of the unfortunate pair, Satoshi and Satoko, were taken in by their aunt and uncle. Shion always thought it was unfair to treat the family so harshly, and she was glad to hear that even Mion, the next Sonozaki head, was trying to be friends with the Houjou children.

"What was Satoshi-kun doing in Okinomiya at night?" asked Shion suddenly.

"Ah, well…" Mion released her sister's hand and scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "That's… I probably should let him tell you on his own time, but… I think he was running away. See, his aunt is harsh with Satoko, and Satoshi is really run down from having to defend her. It's kind of a mess."

Shion became abruptly aware that she desperately wanted to meet Satoshi. It made her blush to think he had probably seen her naked, and she felt ashamed to think he knew she was no longer a maiden. But still, he had saved her. If he hadn't appeared when he did, Shion would never have been able to shoot her attacker. Had fate brought them together? Satoshi looked so attractive in Shion's mind, though her memory of him was dubious.

She thought she remembered him speaking to her while she lay on the floor of the warehouse. Yes, it was coming back more clearly now. He had rolled the dying man off Shion's body, gave Shion his shirt, pulled her skirt back in place, and told her everything would be alright. Then he had found a phone nearby to call the ambulance. The way Satoshi had looked at her was full of honest concern and caring—he was not afraid to be associated with her, despite the fact that society would now consider her a shame to her family and also unfit for marriage.

There was a knock on the door and Mion said, "Oh, it's probably the nurse coming in to check on you." She went to open the door.

Into the hospital room stepped Satoshi Houjou. With him was his little sister, and he was carrying a bouquet of gorgeous flowers. When he smiled, Shion's heart leaped. He was even more handsome than she remembered. Mion was clearly surprised to see him, asking him why he had come.

"I had to come, of course," he said, as if it were expected of him. "Until yesterday, I never knew you had a twin, Mion. If she's your twin, I'll be her friend as much as I am yours. The flowers were Satoko's idea, but I'm glad I brought them. I think they'll brighten up the room."

Shion privately felt that although the flowers were lovely, nothing brightened up the room more than the presence of Satoshi Houjou.


	4. Satoshi no Soutou (Satoshi's Struggle)

**4: Satoshi no Soutou (Satoshi's Struggle)**

T _he first attempt ended in the worst of failures. The demon lives. Worse, she has already met the Houjou boy and is quickly becoming attached to him. Fate is the most stubborn of forces. It will be extremely difficult to intervene. Spring is rapidly flowing into summer. Watanagashi will be upon us before we know it. This year, the Houjou boy will kill his aunt and then disappear to a place not even I know. The Sonozaki Group will set up a scapegoat who confesses to the murder and dies in police custody. Satoshi's disappearance will lead eventually to Shion's madness. I can tell it's one of those worlds._

 _The same pattern is unfolding with Satoshi and Shion. I must stop them. No… perhaps I must first stop what happens to them. Satoshi's aunt must not drive the boy to murderous impulses. And I must not let the old hag torture Shion for being with Satoshi. How can I stop her? She will find out about Shion at some point. When it comes to showing mercy to her hated granddaughter, she may not listen even to me. Do I need to do the unthinkable and end Sonozaki Oryou with my own hands? Should I do the same for Houjou Tamae? I have already committed unforgiveable sins. Does it matter if I go farther into the darkness at this point?_

 _To make matters more confusing, this world has a peculiarity seen only in a few before. There is no sign, so far, of Ryuguu Rena. If memory serves, there were a handful of worlds where she transferred in the same year as Maebara Keiichi. This may be one such world. When Rena returns, will she still be haunted by Oyashiro's curse? In this world, what is her fate?_

* * *

Satoshi Houjou returned from his job interview full of pride. He had done well, and the owner of the small bicycle shop in Okinomiya had offered him the part-time position. The following day, after school, he would begin work. As he walked home that Sunday afternoon, Satoshi thought nothing could bring him down. Even if his aunt yelled at Satoko, and even if Satoko wailed like an infant, he could handle it. Work would boost his confidence, give him time away from home, and provide him with the money to buy something grand for Satoko's birthday.

It wasn't just the job. In addition, Satoshi's mood was elevated whenever he thought of Shion. He was too airheaded to know if he really liked her, and even if he admitted to that, he wouldn't have known what to do to act on his feelings. Mion was fun and attractive, but she was undeniably strong in contrast to her sister, the damsel in distress. Satoshi had always had a soft spot for girls in need of help, care, and attention. Plus, though he was loathe to admit it, he was fascinated by Shion's body. It made him blush to remember, but seeing her bare-breasted and without her skirt that night in the warehouse forced him to admit that Shion was extremely attractive.

After removing his shoes and donning his house slippers, Satoshi walked into the cozy, two-bedroom house owned by his uncle. That man was never around these days, always off on work trips, or else gambling or drinking in some city. The aunt, Houjou Tamae, must have been stressed out by both her husband's absence and his unsavory habits. She was also burdened by having to take in two children after their parents died so strangely and suddenly. Satoshi was too young and too ignorant to understand Tamae's suffering; in his mind, she was bitter and unpleasant for no reason, and had no excuse for yelling at Satoko or striking her.

For those incidences, perhaps Tamae could be excused by the she was strain undergoing, but there were some things, indeed, she did purely out of spite. This was a day she had committed one such cruel action. The aunt would not tell her nephew were Satoko was, and she refused to make dinner, leaving the house instead, which meant something had happened. Satoshi found his little sister crying piteously under the bed the two of them shared upstairs. It took some convincing, but finally, the little girl came out from her hiding place.

It was clear at once why she had been hiding. The dress she was wearing was torn and falling off. In addition, there were droplets of deep red on the skirt; on one of her fingers was a relatively deep cut, still bleeding slightly. Satoko tearfully explained that Tamae had ordered her to wear normal clothes, even though she wanted to look nice that day, and told her stay out of the kitchen, even though she had promised to teach her some cooking that day. Disobeying, Satoko put on her best dress and snuck into the kitchen to make a surprise dish.

While chopping cabbage, the young girl had nicked her finger, and a few droplets of blood stained her dress. When Tamae found out, she was so angry she screamed terrible insults at Satoko and slapped her face. Satoko hit her back, or tried. Her aunt responded by ripping the dress, saying it was ruined anyway with blood on it. Satoko ran crying to her room and Tamae did not stop her, not even to bandage her finger. All the little girl had managed to make in the kitchen was miso cabbage soup, which the aunt threw away, saying it was bitter and burned even though she didn't bother tasting it.

When he heard all this, Satoshi was enraged. He had thought nothing would spoil his good mood, but he had been wrong. Holding in his anger took tremendous effort. In all honesty, Satoshi wanted to go downstairs, punch his aunt, and call her a whore. Instead, he bottled up his resentment, and busied himself cleaning and dressing Satoko's cut finger. Then he helped her out of the torn dress and convinced her to put on a new outfit.

That night, for the first time, Satoshi dreamed of killing his aunt. He lured her away to the deserted junkyard with the promise of a rare set of vases he had found there. Then, with the metal bat he used for baseball practice, Satoshi struck Tamae's head. He heard her skull crack, but rather than feeling disgusted, he only wanted to do more. He hit her head again and again until her face was mutilated beyond recognition. Blood and brains had spattered around her broken head like the red insides of a crushed watermelon. Bits of the blood had splashed back on Satoshi's skin, and the droplets felt warm and smelled good.

The boy woke up in a cold sweat, and then rushed to the bathroom to vomit. On his way back to the bedroom where Satoko slept, he thought he heard footsteps behind him. He kept hearing them no matter how many times he anxiously searched the house for any sign of his aunt, uncle, or an intruder. Making up his mind that he was still half-asleep and imagining things, Satoshi returned to bed and lay down. However, he could not sleep for the rest of the night, because he felt like someone was watching him, standing right over him beside the bed.

Faintly, Satoshi thought he heard a whispering voice repeating over and over, " _Gomenasai_."

* * *

Throughout the next day at school, Satoshi felt exhausted. Of course, it was good to see his friends; his baseball teammates greeted him with genuine smiles, Rika looked adorable with a new white-and-purple outfit, and Shion came to school in place of Mion. Just as they did when they were little, they had started trading places with each other sometimes to lessen each other's burdens. (At first Mion had refused to do this, but after Shion was assaulted that night in Okinomiya, she changed her mind. Her sister was even more important to her than respecting the wishes of their grandmother.)

Shion fit in well with Rika, Satoko, and Satoshi. She went to school as Mion every two days or so in that month of May, and she enjoyed every second of it. Although nobody had told Rika about Shion, the shrine maiden somehow knew, and had no problems telling one from the other. Even though Shion was practically a stranger to these three friends, they treated her well. In a few weeks they were close friends who all relished fun times together.

At first, Satoshi didn't understand why Shion's presence needed to be kept secret, but one day, she explained things to him. They spoke in the empty schoolyard when everyone else was eating lunch inside the classroom because of the threat of impending rain. It was the first conversation Satoshi and Shion had ever had one-on-one.

"My grandmother hates me," stated Shion, looking up at the looming grey clouds. "It would be really bad news for me if she found out I was here. She thinks I'm still at boarding school."

"Why does she hate you?" Satoshi felt awkward making the inquiry, but nothing else came to mind to say. It seemed, also, like Shion wanted to talk more about it.

"For hundreds of years," began the girl, "it was said in Hinamizawa that when two heirs are born, there can only be trouble. If twins were ever born, it was a tradition to strangle the younger one before its first bath. I've been told that my grandmother—affectionately called Oni-baba—wanted to strangle me. She would have done it if my mother hadn't threatened her. I have a pretty screwed up family, huh?"

"Yes, but you're not alone there," rejoined Satoshi. "My family is plenty messed up. My uncle gambles, drinks too much, and hangs out with crooks. And my aunt…" he clenched his fists tightly… "She yells and screams and even hits Satoko. It makes me want to hit that stupid woman back. Oh—" he realized what he had said—"I'd never do that, though. Not really. I shouldn't have said it either. I'm sorry. It just slipped out."

A light sprinkling of rain began, and Shion edged a little closer to Satoshi where he sat on the bench by the baseball field. "I think it's really admirable you care so much about Satoko," she told him. "You're a wonderful big brother. And a wonderful person. Not everyone would still be this nice to me if they knew… if they saw… I mean, that I'm not a…"

"You don't have to talk about that." Satoshi looked her right in her green eyes. His own were a stunning golden-brown color. "You don't even have to think about that. It doesn't make a difference to me. Maybe it actually makes me want to know you more. I know all about misfortune, and being hated and shamed by people. I'm your ally, Shion."

Even as he spoke the bold words, Satoshi blushed, but looking over, he saw Shion blushing an even deeper shade of red. He laughed nervously and stood up, just as the rain began to come down for real. They hurried back to the school building, slipping and sliding and kicking up mud, but enjoying it.

"We won't be able to play baseball today, I guess," remarked Shion with a touch of sadness. She knew that Satoshi played baseball because Mion told her. Apparently, he was fairly talented with it, if he really focused.

"It's just as well." Satoshi shrugged. "I have work today."

Unfortunately for Shion, Satoshi could not always spend time alone with her. As the days passed, he grew increasingly tired. Work was not nearly as freeing or rewarding as he had imagined it would be; it was just another source of stress. Every day, his aunt's mistreatment of Satoko became worse, and every day, Satoshi had to work harder to keep his emotions constrained. A few times he yelled at his aunt, but he did not strike her. School was exhausting, his grades were dropping, and he kept making rookie mistakes in baseball practice. They had a game coming up soon, so Satoshi had to practice a lot.

It was all so much to deal with that Satoshi started to have thoughts of running away again. This bothered him almost as much as his dream of killing his aunt. Once before, he actually had tried to run away. He had stopped in Okinomiya that night to find a place to sleep for a few hours until the trains were running again. That's when he had found Shion. Satoshi was grateful to her, because if he hadn't stopped to help her that night, he would probably have kept on running farther away. It was a cowardly thing to want to do.

Thinking himself a coward was not the worst part of the issue, though. Satoshi had felt haunted by something ever since he started thinking of running away. Someone was always watching him. He could feel it. Whoever it was, sometimes he could hear their footsteps too. He saw them standing over his bed at night. Yet the stalker or ghost always disappeared when Satoshi tried to touch it, hit it, or follow it. Could he be cursed by an evil spirit, he wondered? Whatever was going on, it filled him with a sense of dread like nothing he had ever felt before. How much longer could he hold out?

While Satoshi grew more tired and irritable every day, Shion grew frustrated. She tried to talk to him often, cheered him on at games, bought him gifts, and even tried to flirt. It was all lost on Satoshi. One warm day in May, Shion asked to have lunch with him, but Satoshi said lunch was the only time he had to himself, and he left the classroom to be alone. He didn't realize that this rejection would make Shion so uncontrollably angry, but he found out soon enough. As he came back from his lonely lunch outside, he heard Satoko crying like a baby, and over her rang Shion's fierce voice, heavy and hoarse with rage.

"It's your fault Satoshi-kun is stressed all the time!" he heard her shout. "Do you know why you're treated like this? Because all you do is cry for your nii-nii! That's why we hit you! You're pathetic! A spoiled brat! If you're going to suffer, don't make Satoshi-kun suffer with you! You should just DIE!"

Wasting no time, Satoshi ran into the classroom. He saw Shion holding a chair above her head and getting ready to bring it down on Satoko. As hard as he could, Satoshi shoved the tall girl away from Satoko, sending her stumbling back against a locker with the chair falling on top of her. Satoko wept pathetically and kept saying "Nii nii" while her brother held her in his arms like a babe and stroked her hair, trying to calm her.

"Sa-Satoshi," stammered Shion, with a terrified look on her face as if she had only just realized what she had been doing. "I didn't mean—I'm sorry I—"

Satoshi raised his hand for silence. Ordinarily, he would have been furious, probably thinking that Satoko was only being targeted because everyone from the Sonozaki family hated the Houjou family. However, he had overheard most of Shion's words. He understood she was angry because she thought his problems were Satoko's fault. She was angry for his sake.

"You're right," the boy said to Shion. "My sister is a spoiled brat. And she is the cause of a lot of my worries. But what you did only makes things worse for me, not better. And put yourself in my shoes. Am I supposed to just stop caring about Satoko because she's babyish? I can't do that. I couldn't if I wanted to."

Shion broke down into tears and apologized as humbly and genuinely as anyone could ask. She gave Satoko her lunch because the little girl had spilled hers on the floor. Furthermore, Shion said she would stay after school, help Satoko with her homework, and walk her home, all while Satoshi went home and rested. Satoshi forgave Shion and trusted her with Satoko, but he felt like it would be wrong for him to run home for such a selfish reason. The person who changed his mind in the end was Rika.

She spoke in a commanding voice Satoshi had never heard the cute shrine maiden use before. "Go home, eat a good meal, and sleep for the remainder of the day. I am the voice of Oyashiro-sama, who says you should rest. And one other thing. Don't think about running away from home."

"Well… okay then," Satoshi agreed reluctantly. "Thanks, Rika-chan."

Seconds later, the ominous aura was gone and Rika was back to being an innocent little girl. "Nipaah," she said with a grin.


	5. Shinpo no Shouko (Progession of Symptoms

**5: Shinpo no Shouko (Progression of Symptoms)**

It was obvious to Satoshi that Shion was truly sorry for her violent outburst against Satoko; even if she hadn't apologized right away, her emotional instability was understandable after what she had been through only a few weeks ago. As a result of their argument, Shion and Satoshi grew closer to each other. They were even comfortable meeting each other alone.

One day, Shion suggested that she meet Satoshi in Okinomiya after the boy finished his work. Satoshi agreed. Neither of them wanted to call it a date, but that was what it was. They met outside the bicycle shop and walked over to Angel Morte. Shion frequented that place, still hoping her uncle would fold and let her have a job.

"The deserts here are delicious," said Satoshi, helping himself to a cube of fudge from the platter they had ordered. Sweet, soft mints, blocks of fudge in different flavors, chocolate truffles, and small sugar cookies decorated said platter in an elegant fashion. "I haven't had a good appetite lately, but work must have made me hungry today." He smiled. "Everything is so sweet it's making my mouth feel strange."

"I know just the thing for that," said Shion, raising her hand to catch the attention of one of the waitresses. "Could we have two small milks, please?" she requested. Then, to Satoshi, she said, "A little milk is the best thing in the world to go with fudge and cookies."

"Ah... ok." Satoshi was staring after the retreating waitress, not leering or being rude, but clearly distracted. The girls who worked at Angel Morte wore dark, tight-fitting uniforms with white trimming; they were strapless and showed cleavage, and the skirts were short.

"Don't stare too long," Shion said, taking on a teasing tone. "Uncle Yoshiro loves his girls, and if one of them calls you a pervert, you're blacklisted."

"Oh, sorry," Satoshi stammered, blushing brightly. "I was thinking... you said you wanted to work here, right? Well I was thinking... that I'd l-love to see you in one of those uniforms."

It was Shion's turn to color up. She felt her cheeks burning, but she was pleased. "One day I'll wear it for you."

The two of them flirted a little and talked light-heartedly for a little while longer, but soon the conversation became more serious. Something was bothering Satoshi, and when Shion asked, he felt comfortable enough with her to talk about it. While he did, though, he obviously had difficulty. The subject made him emotional-mostly angry. It was another case of his aunt's mistreatment of Satoko.

This time, Tamae must have done more than slapped the child's face or pushed her down. When Satoshi found her, Satoko had several bruises like she had been kicked and thrown around. Morever, he had found her in the toolshed, locked inside with the window shut. If it had been later in the year, she might have died from the heat. Fortunately, the temperature wasn't too high yet, but still, Satoshi thought Satoko's life might have been in danger. After all, he had been working all day, so he had no idea how long his little sister might have been trapped in the shed without even a bottle of water.

All this had happened just yesterday, and last night, Satoshi had dreamed once again of murdering his aunt. This time, in the dream, he struck her with the bat just once, so that she lost consciousness. Then he left her in the house and set it on fire. With Satoko safe by his side, dream-Satoshi enjoyed listening to the unearthly screams of his aunt as she burned to death. The dream bothered the boy almost as much as the abuse that Satoko was suffering, because it felt so real, and so like something he might do. Though he felt like he would burst at the seams if he didn't tell someone, there was no way Satoshi could reveal his dreams to Shion. He said he had experienced a nightmare, and left it at that.

"The abuse that Satoko is going through is unthinkable," Shion said emphatically. "I can't believe the Child Counseling Center isn't taking action. I feel like I really made matters worse by bullying Satoko a few days ago. I don't ever want to hurt her again, but I'm scared. Scared of how angry I am at her for making you stand up for her and take on all this stress. To tell the truth, Saotshi-kun... I had a nightmare. In the dream, I... well... I killed Satoko."

"That would never happen," Satoshi answered, giving Shion a pat on the head. "Because right now, I'm going to ask you to take care of Satoko for me. If anything ever happens to me, I entrust my sister to you. You'll take care of her, won't you?"

Shion felt overjoyed at Satoshi's trust in her; however, she also wanted to know why he chose her. "I promise to protect Satoko," she swore. "I promise because I... I care about you, and if you love Satoko, I'll do my best to love her too. But there are two things wrong with what you said. First, Satoshi-kun, why are you asking me to do this? Are you planning to run away again?" Before the boy could answer, Shion added, diverting her eyes to the floor, "And the second thing. Why would you entrust your precious little sister to a murderer?"

"What?" Satoshi seemed baffled. "You're not a murderer. You only had a nightmare. I've had them too. They don't mean you're really-"

"No," Shion interrupted in a harsh tone. "That's not what I mean. I really killed someone. Did you forget? That man. The one who- the one who... did that to me... in the warehouse. You saw me. I took his gun and shot him. He died because of it."

For a few long seconds, Satoshi stayed quiet, considering. Finally he spoke again. "Of course I didn't forget. I can't forget anything I saw that night. It's just that I don't consider it murder. Neither does anyone who really cares about you. You shot a man who was assaulting you. You did the right thing and protected yourself."

Despite all Shion's attempts to be strong, a small sob escaped her. Tears welled up in her eyes and she tried to just blink them away. "I'm sorry," she said, feeling rather lame. "Onee-chan said the same thing. But hearing you say it is different. Satoshi-kun, you really don't blame me for what I did? And... do you really not mind that I'm... I'm impure?" A single tear fell from her face onto her hand resting on the table.

Satoshi reached and covered her slender hand with his own. He smiled at her, feeling almost tearful himself. "Shion," he told her, "that doesn't matter at all. People who say things like that are ignorant, stubborn old farts. You're as pure as they come." Quite suddenly, he realized what he was saying, and blushed so much he looked like a tomato. "Maybe we should go for today," he said, coughing and clearing his throat, embarrassed.

Smiling, Shion agreed, and the two teenagers paid their bill and walked out into the streets of Okinomiya. By then, Shion had purchased another bike, and was prepared to ride back to Kasai's apartment on her own. However, Satoshi insisted on accompanying her to make sure she stayed safe. The boy exchanged polite greetings with Kasai and then took his own bike all the way back to his aunt's house in Hinamizawa.

That night, Satoshi was so exhausted he fell into bed and went right to sleep without even greeting his aunt or checking on Satoko. He dreamed again that night, but not of murder. He dreamed of kissing Shion on the mouth, and it felt wonderful.

* * *

Furude Rika sat up on the padded examination table, in a hospital gown, while Dr. Irie Kyousuke conducted her monthly wellness test. After the regular health test, he drew some blood from Rika, which would be used for researching the Hinamizawa Syndrome and the Queen Carrier Effect. In a separate room, nurse and co-founder of Irie Industries, Takano Miyo, performed a checkup on Satoko. Then, as usual, the little girl was given her injection; the little girl believed these were for nutrient tests, but their real purpose was suppression of advanced Hinamizawa Sydrome.

"All is normal," Irie told Rika with his warm smile. "You're a healthy girl as usual. If I had to say there was anything 'off,' I would say you seem a little tired. Have you had trouble sleeping lately?"

"No, Irie-sensei," replied Rika cheerily, but she was lying. In reality she suffered from frequent insomnia due to nightmares of gruesome past worlds and worries about the current world. Rika didn't think she could gain any real help by telling the physician, but then a sudden idea struck her. "Gomenasai, nano desu," the shrine maiden said. "I told a lie. The truth is that I can't sleep at all lately. Do you have any medicine for that?"

"You're such a good girl, Rika-chan." Irie put away his equipment as he spoke and wrote labels for the two vials of blood he had drawn. "Even when you lie, you feel guilty and confess right away. There, there, Rika-chan. Now, there are many medicines that help with sleep, but they would be too powerful to give to a little girl. Instead, you can take some chamomile extract."

"Chamomile?" repeated Rika curiously.

"It's a European plant with leaves and flowers that can be used to make a calming tea. The extract is much more concentrated than tea. It should keep you relaxed and help you fall asleep. I'll go and get it for you."

"I can get it myself, nano desu." Rika leaped down off the examining table, put her dress back on, and headed toward the door. "It's in the cabinet where you keep your herbal supplies, right? I know where that is."

"Alright then," Irie agreed a little reluctantly. "I'll finish labeling these samples. Be careful not to fall over or break anything. And remember, only get chamomile."

Of course, Rika heartily agreed to obey, but again, she was lying through her teeth. As soon as she found the right cabinet and dragged the stool over so she could reach up into it, the little girl scanned the shelf for something far more dangerous than chamomile. It only took her a moment to find a small bottle of Wisteria floribunda extract. The concoction was made from the toxic, bean-like seeds of the beautiful Japanese Wisteria plant.

Why did the clinic have poison? Irie probably had nothing to do with it; more likely, Takano was the one who stored something so dangerous in the herbal cabinet. Regardless, Rika took the Wisteria along with the chamomile. She put both small bottles into her satchel, and left the clinic feeling empowered. At last, she had her own weapon.

* * *

Shion had been on Mion's mind constantly ever since the incident in Okinomiya last month. One night in late May, some of Mion's memories of her sister revisited her in the form of dreams. When the twins were thirteen years old, their grandmother finally put her foot down about them sleeping in the same bed. She said it wasn't proper for the heir of the Sonozaki House to rely on coddling from her sister every night. Besides, the girls were growing quickly and needed their space. It seemed like the only reasonable thing to do.

The young twins threw a fit, however, declaring that they would never sleep apart. Their mother, Sonozaki Akane, proposed a compromise. It was decided that the girls would continue to share one room, with Mion sleeping in the ornately carved western-style bed, and Shion sleeping on a soft futon that could be rolled up and stored in the closet during the day time. This seemed to satisfy the girls, so they stopped making trouble and agreed to the compromise.

The first night they tried to spend the night apart, neither of the twins could sleep. It occurred to both of them that one could simply sneak into the other's bed. However, neither of them particularly wanted to be the one do this, since it felt childish, and showed vulnerability. It was Shion who finally gave in, left her futon, and slipped under the covers on the bed with Mion. Even back then, Shion was the one more likely to take bold action, while Mion hesitated and worried over the matter.

The twins did more than just cuddle. Sometimes they played with each other's sleek hair, massaged each other's scalps, hugged each other tightly, and interlocked their fingers. On some nights the girls slipped their hands under each other's loose, pale nightgowns and felt each other's skin. The soft belly, the developing curve of the hips, the smooth arms, the breasts as yet firm and small and coming to points at the little, hard, pink nipples. Shion and Mion would play-wrestle, rolling over and over, and grinding against each other, taking turns on top. When she felt particularly devilish, Shion took off her nightgown and made Mion do the same before resuming their play.

This sort of thing the girls had done since they were toddlers, and it had all been "innocent" at first. As they grew up, though, Shion and Mion's bedtime play became less about childlike curiosity and more about mutual pleasure. Of course, they kept their activities secret from the rest of the family, and were never discovered. By the time Shion and Mion learned that this sort of pleasure was the kind society only deemed appropriate for a married man and woman, they had already grown physically attached to each other. They didn't stop just because it wasn't considered "right." As long as they weren't hurting each other, there was no problem.

However, on the night that Shion snuck into Mion's bed, the elder refused their usual play. Shion complained but left well enough alone, playing with herself instead. Something changed after that. Part of it was a natural desire to be independent from each other. Part of it was because Mion felt their sexual play unseemly for the Sonozaki heir. And part of it was because they were being made to sleep in separate beds. For all these reasons, Shion and Mion gradually stopped their erotic fun. Occasionally, after age thirteen, they still shared a bed, but they stopped touching each other, except perhaps to hold hands.

When Mion woke up from the dreams of her long-lost play with Shion, she felt a mix of emotions. Embarrassment because she found herself wet. Anger at herself for feeling a certain longing for her sister's touch. Jealousy, over Shion's blatantly obvious crush on Satoshi. But most of all, what Mion felt was despondency, because she knew she would never again be as close as she once was with Shion, both physically and emotionally. They had spent too much time apart. They had recognized themselves as independent beings. They had developed pride and shame, and each served to keep them apart. Mion felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"Shion," she thought, "I'm sorry. I am the heir to the Sonozaki House. I am no longer a child. I won't keep all your secrets anymore. I won't fool around with you at night. I won't always defend you or allow you to do what you please. And I will not place you before my duty to the family. I'm sorry, Shion."

* * *

The brief respite Satoshi had found with Shion was forgotten a few days later when another ugly incident occurred with Satoko and Houjou Tamae. Satoko had put on some water to boil for tea, but she spilled it and burned her hand in the process. She wailed and cried shrilly and loudly, and wouldn't even stop to let Tamae help her with the burn. The little girl's overdramatic, continuous crying made her aunt completely lose her temper. The livid woman grabbed Satoko, took a seat, pulled down the little girl's pants, and flung her over one knee. Then she started spanking her as hard as she could with the hefty cast-iron ladle from the kitchen.

A few slaps on the behind with a hand might have been called for, but it was another matter entirely to beat a child with a heavy ladle for several minutes straight, all while yelling insults at her. Satoko's rump was painfully swollen with bruises, and the skin broke in one place, sending a trickle of blood down her thighs. That was the scene Satoshi entered into when the screaming and yelling woke him. When he saw what was happening, the boy took action at once.

Cursing at his aunt, he grabbed the ladle and wrenched it from her hand with some effort. Next, without any hesitation, Satoshi slapped Tamae forcefully across the face. He wanted to punch her nose in, but he still managed to control himself somewhat. Satoko rolled onto the floor and lay there whimpering in a low voice while her aunt and her brother yelled at each other over the incident. Finally, Tamae shouted that she would abandon the children or send them into foster care if Satoshi ever dared to strike her again. Hearing this, Satoshi backed off.

The brother and sister retreated upstairs to their own room to be away from their aunt. Satoshi comforted Satoko until she stopped crying, and the two of them ate a simple breakfast together. Afterward, the older brother helped his little sister dress for school and gave her a pillow to bring with her so sitting in class wouldn't be as painful. The whole time, Satoshi kept up a calm and reassuring air, but on the inside, he felt like he might explode with the stress at any moment.

On the way to school, he heard footsteps behind him, but nobody could be seen following him. A small whispering voice said, " _Gomenasai_ ," but Satoko said she hadn't heard anything. Satoshi stopped and realized that he was shaking with fear. His hands felt cold and clammy. At that point, the haunted boy decided on two things. First, he would kill his aunt. Second, he would use the money from his part-time job for traveling expenses, running as far from Hinamizawa as possible.


	6. Koi to Doku (Love and Poison)

**6: Koi to Doku (Love and Poison)**

That morning, when Satoshi made up his mind to kill his aunt, it was the day before Watanagashi. On the same day, Rika skipped school. When Irie called her house, she told him she just had a little cold and she wanted to rest up before the festival day. Then the shrine maiden put her hair in a bun, put on a simple baseball hat, and changed from her dress into a plain t-shirt and boyish shorts. It was her disguise. She couldn't have anyone recognize her while she was on her way to the Houjou house.

Successfully reaching the house without being stopped by anyone, Rika knocked on the door. In a moment, Houjou Tamae opened it and looked down at Rika in surprise and confusion. "I'm sorry," she stammered, "I thought maybe you were my husband, coming home."

"No ma'am," said Rika, removing her hat and undoing her hair. "I don't think we've officially met. I am Furude Rika. _Yoroshiku onegaishimasu_." She bowed politely.

"Furude? Ah." The middle-aged woman wore an obviously displeased frown. "So you're one of Satoko's little friends. Well, what do you want?"

"Perhaps you don't know." The shrine maiden maintained her smile and the high pitch of her voice that made her childlike. "My father, the head of the Furude family and the village priest, gave shelter to the Houjou couple and their children. It was in a time when all the other villagers cast stones at them, so-it-is."

"Are you saying I owe something to the Furude family?" Tamae scoffed. "All that dam war crap happened before I took the children in. It has nothing to do with me."

"It's not about owing us anything, except perhaps your good will." Extending her hands, Rika showed that she was carrying two small boxes. "Inside these are sweet bean pastries and some fine herbal tea packets, so-it-is. I brought them as gifts. I wanted to show you that the last living Furude still honors her family's relationship with the Houjou, so-it-is."

Satoko's aunt pursed her lips and tapped her foot irritably, but Rika could tell she was going to give in. To refuse the little girl entrance at this point would be the height of discourtesy, and the whole town would know about it before the end of the day. So Tamae gave a forced smile and invited Rika inside.

"Ojamashimasu." After she had removed her shoes and put on some house slippers, Rika followed Tamae into the kitchen and watched her set the pastries on a platter. "Won't you allow me to make you some tea?" she asked. "You should take the pastries and wait in the next room, so-it-is."

Plainly surprised by the offer, Tamae agreed. She went into the next room to wait. Rika boiled water, poured it over the leaves, let them steep, and then filtered out the leaves with a fine mesh filter. She poured it into two cups. After putting a little honey in both cups, Rika added a last touch to the masterpiece; she poured the Wisteria extract into the larger of the two cups. When she served it to Tamae, the little girl was smiling like an angel.

* * *

"What is it, Satoshi?" Shion asked curiously.

Usually, Satoshi insisted on being alone for lunch, isolating himself to get a break from his constant stress. However, today he had asked for a word in private with Shion during the lunch break. He also asked her to confirm that she was Shion and not Mion. The girl felt flattered, knowing that this proved she was the closest to Satoshi out of his usual friend group.

"There's something I would like you to do," Satoshi began, staring at the ground and sounding exhausted. He and Shion sat side by side on the grass with their backs the wall of the school's old tool shed. "Satoko's had it really hard lately. I want her to be able to have fun and play like a normal girl at least once. So, Shion… will you take her to the Watanagashi festival tomorrow?"

For a second or two, Shion felt rush of joy at being asked to do this important task for Satoshi. However, the joy was quickly replaced by worry and suspicion. "I don't mind," she told him, "but why are you asking me? Shouldn't you bring Satoko to the festival yourself?"

"I…have something important I need to do." The answer was vague and far from satisfactory.

Shion overcame her shyness and took Satoshi's hand. "Look at me." Though it was a command, it came in a gentle voice. "Please look me in the eye and tell me you're not going to do something stupid."

For better or worse, the boy tried. As soon as he raised his eyes to meet those of Shion, however, his emotions conquered him. Tears fell from Satoshi's eyes and his body should with suppressed sobs. "Shion," he whispered in a desperate voice. "I don't know what to do. I can't see any other way… I can't think of anything… except killing that woman."

"Satoshi." Shion's eyes were moist too, because of the depths of empathy, sympathy, and affection she felt for him. She put both arms around him, and with one hand stroked the golden hair on the back of his head. "Satoshi, it's not fair that you have to bear so many burdens. Please, share them with me. There must be something I can do. I would kill that woman for you if there was no other choice. I would. But there has to be some other way that won't make us murderers. What would Satoko do if you go to jail?"

With a small, stifled sob, Satoshi in turn put his arms around Shion. He hugged her tightly to his body. "I know you're right," he sniffled. "Of course. It's obvious I'm being stupid. I'm not thinking right. Something's wrong with me. I can't stop thinking of killing my aunt."

Never before had Shion felt so discomfited, but neither had she ever felt such a strange and deep sense of hunger. "Maybe," she said, resting her forehead against his so that their noses touched, "you just need something else to distract you. I can make you think of other things besides killing. Satoshi. Won't you… won't you let me love you?"

"Shion." The boy's gentle golden eyes were wide with surprise. "You would… let me…?" He wanted to say "become one with you" but it was too embarrassing to say out loud.

"Yes, because I love you, Satoshi." Her words were barely audible, spoken in a whisper.

It was impossible not to be turned on the by feeling of Shion's breasts against his body in their tight embrace. Satoshi swallowed hard. Quickly but with passion, he kissed her lips. "Let's go inside the shed," he said then, suddenly giddy. "We can't do anything out here in the open."

Holding hands, fingers intertwined, the love-struck teenagers rose to their feet and walked to the ingress of the shed. They entered, shut the door behind them, and let loose. Kissing, fondling, grinding, they made love without shame. For them, it was a form of release, a way to get the stress out, as well as strengthen their bond and the trust they had in each other. Satoshi had his problems with his aunt, protecting Satoko, working, trying to keep passing grades in school, and practicing baseball, all without the comfort of parents.

As for Shion, lately, she had felt every bit as stressed and unstable as Satoshi. While it was infinitely better than being trapped in St. Lucia's, it was wearisome to have to live life under her sister's name. Always, she feared that her identity would be found out by her heinous grandmother. At the same time, Shion wanted freedom to be herself, and have people know that she was her own person. But that wasn't the only trial she endured.

Her dreams and thoughts lately had been concerning. She had a nightmare about killing Mion and permanently taking her place. What kind of person would dream of killing her own sister? Also, despite apologizing for her violent outburst a few days ago, Shion still felt great fury toward Satoko, and apperceived it would all explode out of her if she let her guard down for even a second. The younger twin girl was, additionally, troubled with flashbacks of that night in Okinomiya. She was disturbed by the memory of how good it felt to shoot that man.

Only her love for Satoshi kept Shion somewhat sane. Only making love here with him distracted her from thoughts of bloodshed and brutality. It was the same for Satoshi. He had never felt such relief, loving Shion, and being loved in return. His own passion surprised him. He nearly tore Shion's white blouse, undressing her with such haste. Only with great effort did he keep himself in check and resist releasing himself inside her. Remembering what little he had heard from the adults around him, he instead spilled his sperm on the soft skin of her lean belly.

The reckless youths were both still undressed and holding each other when the door suddenly opened. There followed the sound of a woman's gasp. Shion and Satoshi looked up and saw Chie-sensei standing in the doorway, eyes wide with shock, hands over her mouth. She looked like she might swoon.

"Sensei!" Shion exclaimed, hugging herself to hide her naked breasts. "Why are you here?"

"Why are you two here?!" demanded the teacher, flushed and clearly outraged. "One of the little kids said he heard noises like someone was hurt coming from the shed. He was too afraid to open it. I delayed the start of class to come find you. I was worried one of you had been hurt. And—and you're here, doing—engaged in—" For a moment, Chie was at a loss for words, but then she composed herself. "Get dressed and follow me."

Both full of shame and dread, Satoshi and Shion obeyed. They were led to the tiny office of the principal, who was the only regularly present staff member besides Chie. As for the female teacher, she left to go teach class. However, just before going, she shot a deeply disappointed look at Shion.

"To think," she said, "that the next heir would dishonor the Sonozaki family so shamelessly!"

That's when Shion realized. "Principal!" she blurted desperately. "You have to listen to me! I'm not Mion. I'm Sonozaki Shion, Mion's younger twin sister! Mion didn't dishonor the family. Do whatever you want to punish me, sir, but don't let anyone say that Mion committed this sin!"

It took a long time to convince the principal that she was telling the truth. He didn't believe it until he called the main Sonozaki house and spoke to Akane, Oryou, and Mion in turn. They confirmed that Shion existed, and Mion confessed to letting her sister go to school in her place that day. Any chance of hiding from Oryou would be obliterated after this incident. The principal also called the Houjou house to let Tamae know about Satoshi's misbehavior, but nobody picked up the phone. Houjou Teppei could not be reached either.

The next few hours were long and ugly for all parties involved, and in the end, the two miscreants were told their punishment would be decided after some deliberation. They were sent home early. Shion wanted to return to her apartment in Okinomiya, but found herself confronted by Tatsuyoshi and several other Sonozaki agents wearing black suits and sunglasses. They escorted her none too kindly into an expensive black car, which would be heading to the main Sonozaki estate. As for Satoshi, he returned home expecting to have to suffer through telling his aunt what had happened.

However, the boy did not need to tell his aunt. He could never speak to her again. Because when Satoshi arrived at his house, he found Houjou Tamae dead. He smelled her before he saw her—even before he entered the house. She lay on the bathroom floor, which, along with the toilet, was swamped with watery bowel excretions and vomit. Tamae had died from dehydration. Satoshi took one look at her and fled the house. He took with him all his savings from his part time job.

"I killed her," he told himself, trembling. "I wished for her to die, and she's dead." With paranoia and baseless guilt overwhelming him, the only thing Satoshi could do was run away.

* * *

"Why?" Mion had to support herself on the table corner to keep from falling to her knees. Tears flowed down her face. "Why does it have to be me? Why do we have to do this?"

"It is your punishment as well as hers," answered Sonozaki Ouryou. "You helped your sister with her lies and deceit, leading to the situation we find ourselves in today. Like a proper Sonozaki Family head, you must take responsibility."

"Alright," Mion agreed shakily. "On one condition. Kasai and Uncle Yoshiro are not be hurt. Not even a little. And you have to leave Houjou Satoshi alone."

Oryou was already planning the meeting for that night where she would order the death of Satoshi Houjou. She couldn't risk telling Mion, but Satoshi had to be killed. Vaguely, the despicable old hag said, "The Houjou brat has already run away. Whatever happens to him now is in the hands of Oyashiro-sama."

Foolishly, Mion was satisfied with that answer.

* * *

From school, Shion was driven via expensive black car to the main Sonozaki estate. The whole way there, she tried to tell herself that there was nothing to be afraid of, and that the sense of cold dread that turned her limbs to jelly was unjustified. What could they do to her? Shion was a member of the Sonozaki family, so they wouldn't do anything terrible to her. She was too old to be beaten with Oryou's cane.

Of course, there were rumors that the Sonozaki Group used torture to punish wrongdoers—there was even a story about Akane having her fingernails removed for courting an outsider—but Shion dismissed it all as fantasy. She didn't believe her family was yakuza even though the fact stared her in the face. Tatsuyoshi and the other agents obviously had holsters under their coats, holsters that could only contain firearms—but Shion pretended not to see. What else could she do?

There was another rumor about the Sonozaki family: namely, that numerous secret tunnels and entrances existed on their vast properties and all over the district. There was supposedly a torture chamber underground somewhere, used hundreds of years ago when the Hinamizawa was still called Onigafuchi Village, swamp of the demons.

It turned out there was some truth to these rumors. Shion was escorted out of the car, through half a mile of woods, and straight to a heavy metal door leading down underground. The teenage girl thought there was no way she could make herself go through that door; she was too frightened. However, to her immense relief, the door opened and Mion stepped out.

The aforementioned relief faded and was replaced by fear and confusion when Shion took a closer look at her sister. Mion's expression was grim and serious as death; she did not smile or even return a greeting, except to nod coldly. She wore a white kimono and hakama bottoms, with a teal-green obi sash tied in front. This was the wear of the young heir (traditionally male) of the Sonozaki house. What with her outfit, her bleak countenance, and the way her hair was tied back into a warrior's ponytail, Mion almost resembled a male. When she spoke, she used a deeper voice than usual.

"Follow me, Shion," she said simply. Her younger sister tried smiling at her and asking what everyone was so serious about, but Mion did not reply. When Shion tried to cling to her, the elder sister pushed her away. She began to walk down the stairs behind the door.

With Mion ahead and the Sonozaki agents behind, Shio proceeded down the stairs. From here a wooden door led into an antechamber only dimly lit by a few electric lights with obvious signs of recent wiring. The door at the end of the room opened to a larger chamber made of stone. Shion could hardly believe her eyes when she looked at it.


	7. Yoha (Aftermath)

**7: Yoha (Aftermath)**

Shion gazed in terror at the room before her. This was unmistakably a torture chamber. A plethora of sharp tools hung on the walls—including things that looked like scythes, cleavers, meat-beaters, knives, and saw-edged blades—and several cruel multi-tongued whips were slung over a rack. In one corner there were tools for working with a fireplace—tongs, prods, sharp sticks. In another corner was a low shelf, and on it were nails, hammers, and an assortment of needles. Chains hung here and there from the roof. Near the center of the room was a rough wooden structure like a table with two branches near the top, as if for arms, and two at the bottom, as if for legs. Each branch, as well as the place where a person's neck would be, was equipped with metal restraints.

If all of this was not alarming enough, there was something even more disturbing about this secret torture chamber. Against the right hand wall was a raised dais with seats—a place for people to sit on floor pillows and observe. Four of those seats were occupied by Sonozaki Ouryo, her daughter Akane, son-in-law Ando, and old man Kimiyoshi. The latter two appeared somber and ominous in mien. However, compared to Ouryo, they looked almost angelic. The heinous old woman, head of the Sonozaki house, looked like a mad dog ready to bite. She may as well have had pointed teeth for all she looked like a beast.

"Whore!" Oryou shouted at Shion just as Mion shut the door closed behind her. "Idiot! What have you done? I wondered what brought you back, but how could it be the accursed traitor brat of the Houjou family?!"

As the old woman spoke, Tatsuyoshi and his agents took their seats on the observation platform. Mion remained standing next to Ouryo, her arms crossed, her bearing cold.

Again Shion's impulsiveness manifested. No matter how scared she was, she decided, she would take this chance to stand up to her evil grandmother. So she said, "Whatever the parents did, it has nothing to do with Satoshi-kun."

"Shut up!" yelled Oryou in her cracked voice. "Everyone in the Houjou family has the same blood of the traitor!"

"Oni-baba," Shion spat. (It meant "demon hag.") "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Watch your mouth," the old woman warned, standing up from her pillow, "or—"

"Shut up!" It was Shion's turn to return the harsh phrase to her grandmother. "What do you know about Satoshi-kun? You treat him like a pest and you don't even know him! Are you really that displeased that a Sonozaki is together with a Houjou?" She moved closer to her grandmother, fists clenched, green eyes flaming. "If so, that's idiotic! What the hell era do you think we're living in?! It's absurd!" She stomped her feet, letting all her anger out. "Ridiculous!"

"I know he's a coward who would break the rule of living out his days in the village," Oryou said, eyes narrowed dangerously. It was an ancient rule to never let outsiders into the village, or let insiders out of the village.

The old woman knew that Satoshi had tried to run away once before. "I see," Shion realized. "Mion must have told you. Perhaps she doesn't approve of me liking Satoshi-kun. Just as Oni-baba suspects, he is a bit of a dangerous boy. But I don't care." Here Shion gave a hearty laugh. It was forced and sounded out of place. But she had to do it to keep up her bravado, and to set the stage for what she would do next.

"Honestly," the girl began, smiling, one hand on her hip in a relaxed manner, "the fact that he's a Houjou and I'm a Sonozaki doesn't interest me at all. The fact that you think our making love was dishonorable? I don't care about that either. I have no interest in how the Sonozaki Group is viewed by the public eye. Yes, I'll admit it!" She looked her grandmother right in the eye. "I love Houjou Satoshi! I love him! Is that such an evil thing? Do people need a reason to love each other?"

The people sitting on the dais shook their heads or looked otherwise disappointed, and Mion coughed politely to get Shion's attention. "That's enough, Shion." She walked up to her sister till they were so close their faces almost touched. "I can see you're incredibly determined. But with what you've said, nobody can cover for you anymore. Not even me. Now, you must take responsibility. You must distinguish yourself."

Since she knew just enough about yakuza to recognize that "responsibility" and "distinguish" really meant punishment, Shion felt her fear returning. Plus, Mion was no longer on her side. "Why?" the younger sister asked, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice. "Why should I take 'responsibility'?"

"Because this is reality." Mion's tone was merciless. "This is Hinamizawa, and you are a Sonozaki. You are one of the members of the Three Great Families, and the shadow leaders of Hinamizawa. You're the twin sister of the next family head, Sonozaki Mion."

"That again?" Shion shook her head and gave her sister a derisive smile to cover her fear. "We've disagreed about this for some time now. I noticed in your letters how you changed. But I haven't. Hinamizawa? The Sonozaki Group? So what?! I don't care about those things."

In a commanding tone, Mion ordered, "Listen! Do you know what your sins are? I'll tell you. Running away from St. Lucia's Academy. Deceiving the main family while living in Okinomiya. Seeking employment with your traitorous uncle Yoshiro. Shaming the name of your sister with acts of violence at school. Staining the honor of the Sonozaki House by taking up with a Houjou. Spitting in all our faces and dishonoring your own body by sexual intercourse with that Houjou. And finally, showing such brazen disrespect today to your grandmother. Your seven sins are yours alone, in the end, but you had help in committing them. Think of who has helped you."

At once, Shion thought of Kasai. He had betrayed the main family by helping her. Uncle Yoshiro tried not to become involved, but Shion continually visited his establishment to petition for his help regardless. And of course, Satoshi had "helped" in committing her "sins." Cold sweat broke out on Shion's brow.

"Tatsuyoshi Kasai and Uncle Yoshiro are confined in the room next room." Mion indicated the door which apparently must lead to some kind of underground prison. "Shion, apologize to grandma, and agree to take responsibility. If you do so, this talk ends with you. If you deny responsibility, you will never see Kasai or our troublesome uncle again."

"But—but Mion!" exclaimed her sister in a sudden panic. "Did I say something that was really that bad? Do you really think my actions are evil? Besides—besides—you helped me, too, Onee! Why are you not being threatened?"

"I have already agreed to take responsibility in my own way." Mion took a few steps closer to the double doors behind which Kasai and Yoshiro were restrained. "My own act of distinction is not your concern." For a just a second, Mion looked at her sister and seemed like her old self; there was a warning in her eyes. "Grandmother may decide to punish Satoshi-kun as well, at this rate."

Those words broke Shion. "Wait, Onee!" she cried, running to her sister and taking her arm.

Mion shoved her away. "What is it, Shion?"

Their eyes met, and Shion's were full of tears. "Go-gomenasai," she sobbed. Then she fell to her knees and bowed her head to the ground, clinging to the ends of the hakama Mion wore. "I was wrong! I was mistaken. Please forgive me, master!"

The thought of her grandmother hurting Kasai and Satoshi was too much to bear. Shion gave in. On the platform, Oryou gave a half-satisfied grunt and returned to sitting down on her knees. Mion saw that, and spoke in a grim tone.

"Very well then, Shion. You will be forgiven if you take responsibility. How will you accomplish this?"

Shion had no idea. She was at a loss for words. She knew that this, too, was planned. The people here had already decided on her punishment. As the younger twin struggled to find something to say, Mion left her side, went to the shelf, and returned carrying in one hand a pair of steel wrist shackles with a chain attached. In her other hand was a fearsome whip. It was a "snake whip" of reinforced black nylon cord, about four feet long, and an inch and a half in diameter at the sturdy handle. The two-tailed lash was at least six inches in length. Shion could no longer hide her trembling.

"Come here." Mion guided her sister to the center of the room where a chain hung down from the roof. "You'll be shackled here." The older sister put Shion's hands in the cuffs, shut them tight, and joined the chain on the cuffs to the one from the ceiling, attaching them with a padlock. "Get down on your knees. Don't face the platform."

Whimpering softly, Shion obeyed. She tried to stop herself from crying. In a moment, she heard the clipping noise of scissors, and felt her shirt slipping off. Mion was cutting it off her body. She pulled the rest off, leaving only Shion's bra over her back, and stood up with whip at the ready. Though they were twins, the elder sister was about an inch taller and two or three pounds muscly pounds heavier; she was strong enough to deliver sound blows.

"For your seven sins," Mion said grimly, "you will accept seven lashes."

Honestly, Shion thought she was prepared. She swallowed the humiliation of being shirtless, thankful that her back was to the platform so the observers could not see her face well. This was the only way to save Satoshi. It would be painful, Shion knew, and she steeled herself. However, no amount of acceptance could prepare her for the pain of real lashes on her bare back. At the first crack of the whip, she screamed, feeling like her back was on fire. It seemed like time had frozen, or at least slowed down. Sobbing, Shion suffered through two more lashes without saying anything. She felt blood trickling down her back from the broken skin.

"Onee-chan!" she shouted after the third lash, unable to bear anymore. "Onee, you know, isn't this enough?" Her own voice sounded foreign, and incredibly shrill. "Onee, this really hurts. I mean it really, really hurts."

"Are you giving up?" asked Mion.

"N-no." Saving Kasai and Satoshi was more important.

The whip cracked again, and it felt like being struck with lightning. Shion tried to stop herself, but she broke down completely, wailing like a child. "I can't take any more! Stop!"

For a moment, the lashing did stop. Mion herself had come to tears. In truth, her grandmother had ordered her to deliver her sister's punishment, so that it would serve as punishment for both of them. Putting her own twin through such pain was unbearable. It was the worst penance possible.

Shion was unaware of what was happening because all she was aware of was the pain. But if she had been able to look behind her, she would have seen Mion throw down the whip in defeat, only to be pushed aside by her father Sonozaki Ando. He took the whip in hand and finished the job, over the screaming and crying of both his daughters.

By the time he was done, the seven lashes of the two-tongued weapon had left fourteen swollen red lines on Shion's back. Most of them broke the skin, causing numerous little rivulets of blood. There would be scars for years—perhaps for the girl's whole life. The pain was so intense that Shion passed out not long after the seventh and final crack of the whip.

* * *

Sonozaki Ando was the outsider who had married Akane and taken her surname; consequently, he was the father of the twins. He and Tatsuyoshi led the group of yakuza men that formed the more militant faction of the Sonozaki Group. That evening, he sat on his knees on a floor pillow with his wife next to him. In front of them, facing them, were Sonozaki Oryou and Kimiyoshi Kiichirou. They had been speaking for some time and finally arrived at a conclusion.

Akane sighed. "Surely there must be a way besides... vigilante justice." She was going to say "murder," but under Oryou's fierce gaze, she chose her words carefully.

"It's not the first time we've done something like this," Ando reminded her. "Killing him will not be a problem. I shall undertake the task myself. However, is this the will of young Rika-sama, voice of our guardian God?"

"Furude Rika does not need to be involved in our every decision," Oryou spat. "Sonozaki honor has nothing to do with the other families. Remember your older, greater duty. It is not to Furude, nor even to Oyashiro-sama, but to the current head of Sonozaki House. Your duty is to me. Houjou Satoshi shall die for staining the honor of a daughter of the Sonozaki house."

"And the body?" Ando asked.

Oryou's smile might actually have been more frightening than her previous grimace. "Why," she said, "that's what Onigafuchi swamp is for, of course. You can dump the corpse there during the festivities tomorrow night, when no one is around the bog to see."

Shion's father bowed. "Justice shall be served as you wish, my lady."

* * *

Hinamizawa had only bar, and it could hardly be called that. It was actually the village's only restaurant, and it was smaller and less frequented than most of the restaurants and cafés in Okinomiya (including Angel Morte). Villagers only came to the restaurant regularly at night after work. There they would relax and let loose with quality country-made sake.

Takano Miyo was surprised to see Dr. Irie there at the restaurant on the night after Watagashi. He rarely drank as a rule. However, today he was sipping on some expensive western whiskey, which already had him flushed and looking unwell. He was clearly stressed over something. Takano joined him where he sat on one of the high chairs up against the ordering counter.

"I'll have a shot of warmed sake, please," the lady said to the man behind the counter. Then she turned to face Irie. "It's rare to see you here, Sensei. Is something on your mind?"

Irie started at the sound of her voice, but quickly calmed down. "Takano-san, nice to see you," he said after taking a deep breath to steady himself. "Yes, something's on my mind, you could say. You heard that little Satoko's aunt died, right?"

"Indeed." Takano spoke casually and easily as ever, despite discussing death. "I wasn't working when they brought her body into the clinic yesterday, though. So I didn't see it. I heard the report of course. Death due to dehydration. Sudden and excessive loss of fluids in such a way seems to suggest poison."

"So you think so too." Irie pushed his glasses up from where they had slid down his prominent nose. "It can't be anything but poisoning. I did a simple toxicity test, but none of the big names, so to speak, showed up in her blood. If I had the right equipment, I might be able to identify the poison… but that's not what concerns me most." He looked seriously at Takano. "Who would poison her? That's what I want to know."

"I would," said Takano.

Irie almost dropped his glass. "I beg your pardon?"

"I said I would poison her. If, that is, she was abusing me. Or perhaps abusing my precious little sister. I mean to say that if you're looking for suspects, you needn't look far. It had to be one of the relatives living with her. You said yourself the abuse had gotten pretty bad, right?"

"But—that's—neither of them would—it's unthinkable that…" the young doctor trailed off, unable to collect his jumbled thoughts. He finished his whiskey in one long gulp, sighed, and tried again. "Between the two of us, Takano-san, poisoning is something that Satoko-chan might be capable of. I hate to admit it."

"I'm sure you do." Takano thanked the barkeep for her sake and took a dainty sip. "You're right, though. I remember the suspicious circumstances surrounding her parents' deadly fall. She's a dangerous little thing, that Satoko."

Shaking his head vehemently, Irie argued, "It can't be her. Not this time. Because if she were planning to kill Tamae, then Satoko would have showed signs of Hinamizawa Syndrome. But she's hardly showing symptoms at all now, thanks to the daily injections."

"Then perhaps it was her brother," suggested Takano nonchalantly. "Or perhaps it was someone else close to Satoko who couldn't stand to see her getting hurt. For instance, Rika-chama. I wonder if the Voice of Oyashiro has an alibi for that day." She downed the rest of the little cup's contents. "But it doesn't matter, does it sensei?"

"Of course it matters." Irie felt constantly annoyed at his female colleague.

"Does it matter enough to tell Detective Ooishi? He doesn't have any leads right now. If you don't suggest that Satoko or Rika did it, he will never suspect them. More likely, he will blame the brother, who conveniently disappeared. So, Irie-sensei, what will it be? Will you go to the police and cast suspicion on your precious Satoko and her little friend Furude?"

He hated her for being right. "No," he grunted. "I won't say a word. And neither should you."

Takano chuckled. "You have my word, sir. I would never do anything that could condemn my favorite test subjects in the eyes of the law. Satoko and Rika-chama are precious to me, too."


	8. Miko no Uso (Priestess of Lies)

**8: Miko no Uso (Priestess of Lies)**

Once again, Rika sat in the large, dimly dining room of the main Sonozaki house with Oryou, Kimiyoshi, and Tatsuyoshi. Sonozaki Akane and her husband were also present. All were seated except Rika, who stood with an erect, angry posture, hands balled into little fists, purple eyes alight with wrath.

"Now, now, Rika-chama," Kimiyoshi was saying, "just calm down a bit. You're still young, and there are some matters—"

"My age is irrelevant," Rika interrupted in a stern and unforgiving tone. "I am the voice of your God! I am the head of the Furude House! All of you in this room had a duty to heed the words of Oyashiro-sama, and yet you all betrayed me. The Sonozaki house has sinned against its God, its village, and its own honor. I demand to know why you acted in such a way."

The little girl's fury was justified. During Watanagashi, Hanyuu had gone to Onigafuchi swamp, where she saw Ando dumping Satoshi's body. It was proof that the Sonozaki group killed him. Furthermore, Rika found out that Oryou and her coconspirators had captured Shion after the incident at school; but instead of killing her, they tortured her and then locked her up somewhere. The shrine maiden was able to find out thanks to hints from Mion that finally drove her to confront the shadow leaders of Hinamizawa.

Rika had eliminated Houjou Tamae in the hopes that it would cause Satoshi to calm down and not fall prey to Hinamizawa Syndrome. She worked so hard to kill the aunt and not be caught, but the price was that she had to leave Oryou alone during that time. And the old hag had undone all of Rika's work in only a few hours. She doubtlessly exacerbated Shion's insanity by tormenting her, and she dealt with Satoshi by having him shot and killed by Sonozaki Ando.

 _Am I to quietly accept that I killed a woman for no reason? This was supposed to be the year Satoshi did not go missing, and did not kill his aunt. I killed her in his place so he would be free. Fate keeps spitting in my face. I am also handicapped by my age, my brain… If I were older, surely I would have realized that killing Tamae would be pointless unless I first assured Satoshi's safety. What am I now but a murderer?_

"I was not raised in this village," said Shion's father, the torturer and child-killer. (Come to think of it, he might have Hinamizawa Syndrome as well.) "As such, I have no faith in the village's deity. My loyalty is not to Oyashiro-sama, nor his priest, but to the head of the Sonozaki House. Oryou-sama ordered me to administer justice, and so I did. Houjou Satoshi dishonored my daughter's body. I do not regret ending his life. That is all I can say."

"And you have no right to hold that against us, Rika-sama," Tatsuyoshi added, "when you yourself ordered the Sonozaki group to kill one of its own not six months past. You wanted to save the Houjou boy, but kill the Sonozaki girl? Where is the logic in that?"

"If Shion had been killed that night as I ordered," Rika snapped back, "then none of this would have happened. Let us forget the Houjou boy for the time being. The real issue is this. Now that you have seen the kind of trouble Shion is likely to cause, why have you not killed her?"

"How can you ask that?" When Akane spoke, her voice carried all of her irritation, frustration, regret, and sorrow. "Shion is my child! I can scarcely believe that my mother and Tatsuyoshi obeyed your orders to have Shion assassinated. I'm glad the endeavor failed. No matter what dark world I have become part of, I cannot kill my own daughter, nor stand idle while others attempt to cause her death."

"How many times must I tell you?" Rika held her head in her hands for a moment in pure exasperation. She had seen this world so many times. "Sonozaki Shion will take vengeance. She will kill her sister, along with Kimiyoshi-san, Oryou-sama, Satoko-chan, and finally even myself."

"Even divine prophecies can be misinterpreted," said Oryou gravely. "And even if your prophecy is correct, who's to say it cannot be avoided now that we know of the possibility? I made sure to punish Shion. I saw her suffer, heard her scream. But that is all I will do to Shion. She has taken the proper responsibility, and now she has my blessing. I intend to let her out of her cell as soon as possible, and I won't stop her from pursuing employment in Okinomiya. After what we did to her, she will fear us and respect us. She won't go out of line again."

Unconvinced, Rika slammed her fist forcefully on the low table. "There is no way to save Sonozaki Shion! She'll go mad for sure, now that you've hurt her so. She'll try to take our lives for revenge."

"How can she do that," Kimiyoshi interjected, "when she is trapped underground in a cell?"

This made Rika pause to consider. She turned to the monstrous old lady again. "Oryou-sama. You must not allow Shion to go free. She must remain imprisoned here below, if you want so desperately to keep her alive."

"That's unreasonable," Akane barked. "It's inhumane. Would you have my daughter rot down in a stuffy dirt-floor cell forever?"

"No, not forever." Rika was starting to accept what had happened and make new plans. "If Shion's symptoms improve, she will be allowed out. I said there was no hope of saving her, but perhaps I spoke too soon. To tell the truth, Shion has an illness. You might call it a disease of the mind. There may be a way to treat it. But we can't risk moving her to the clinic. We shall have to arrange for Irie-sensei to come and administer injections. If, after a few weeks, Shion recovers, then of course she may be released."

 _Of course, in many other worlds, I have tried to subdue Shion with the C3 medication injections developed by Irie. However, in the clinic, she always runs away before she can be restrained. If I steal a syringe and try to inject her myself, she overpowers me and kills me. It's not like I haven't tried merciful treatment before. Perhaps, though… just maybe, the outcome will change now that Shion is already confined to a cell._

Shion's mother objected to the plan. "It's still too cruel to keep her down there." Her usually orderly hair was in disarray, and the sag in her shoulders showed her exhaustion.

Tatsuyoshi argued, "It may be cruel, but the Sonozaki Group has done worse. Rika-sama's idea of treatment and conditional release may be the best compromise."

"I must say, I agree," said Sonozaki Ando.

"Kimiyoshi-san?" asked Rika.

"Ah, well…" the old man was awkward as always. "I'll go along with what Oryou-sama decides."

The old hag in question deliberated for a few minutes. At last she told Rika, "Very well. We shall continue to trust in your predictions and insights, Rika-sama. Shion will be treated as per your wishes. And if killing that Houjou brat was truly a sin against Oyashiro-sama, let him judge me for it."

 _Oh, you won't get an easy judgement, old hag. I won't kill you. You're not affected by Hinamizawa Syndrome, and Satoshi's death is the last real crime you will ever conspire to, if the other worlds are any indicator. Your son-in-law is a different story. He isn't from Hinamizawa, so it's not surprising he's gone homicidal. I will end him. How would you like to see your faithful yakuza boss die because of your crime? Will you still rest easy without your best hired gun? We shall see._

* * *

A few days after Watanagashi, Mion, Rika, and Satoko ate lunch together on a Sunday. Satoko had just finished moving in with Rika in the little old house on the Furude shrine property. The young blond girl was doing her best to cope with the sudden loss of Satoshi; she would have been unable to handle it if Rika didn't stay by her side and encourage her to take her daily injections.

Rika had spent that morning helping Satoko prepare the food, and Mion was glad to see both of them looking happy. She herself seemed tired, and her laughs forced. Rika wondered exactly how much the older girl knew about her involvement with the family. The shrine maiden had told Oryou and company that Mion was allowed to hear the plans regarding Shion, but she was not allowed to know Rika's role in said plans. It could create trouble and conflict between them if Mion knew everything. Still, from the way she kept shooting sidelong glances at the shrine maiden, perhaps the clever Sonozaki girl knew more than she ought.

"I'll go make us some tea," said Satoko, trying to be as cheery as possible, pushing her sorrow to the far back of her mind.

"Thanks, Satoko-chan." When Satoshi's little sister was out of earshot, Mion looked at Rika across the kotatsu table and frowned. "Do you have any idea what's been happening?" she asked carefully. "I heard you met with my family about something. We've been friends for a while, so I was hoping I could trust you to tell me what you know."

The childish smile vanished from Rika's face as she contemplated an answer. "Oyashiro-sama's curse happened for the fourth time," she began. "The person who died was Satoko's aunt. The person who disappeared was Satoshi-kun. I don't know where he is," she lied, knowing it would get back to Shion if she revealed the truth. "I also know about Shion. That she's your younger twin sister. That she traded places with you sometimes. That she got in big trouble with Saotshi-kun the day before the festival."

Satoko reentered the room carrying a tea tray, causing Mion and Rika to fall silent for a minute. Almost simultaneously, they both decided that it was alright for Satoko to listen. As long as they didn't dwell on the subject of Satoshi, but focused on Shion, it would be alright. Rika and Mion wanted Satoko to be included, and wanted another friend to trust. Good friends seemed few and far between with Shion and Satoshi gone, and Rena not having arrived yet.

"Satoko," Rika said in the high-pitched, innocent voice she used when pretending to be a normal little girl. "Mi-chan and I were just talking about Shion, so-it-is." She then explained all about Shion and how she had actually been with them at school many days, disguised as Mion.

"Now it all makes sense," Satoko realized. "On some days, Mion-san did seem like a different person. She must have been the one who liked Nii-Nii. I could tell, but I was confused, because when it was Mion-san, she didn't seem to think of Nii-nii that way at all. Say. Was it Shion who got so mad at me that time, and hit me?"

"Well, yes," Mion admitted, "but she's not always like that. At least I don't think so. I want to believe she's a good person. It's just that she's…" The teenager looked at Rika for help.

"Shi-chan is just sick, so-it-is." Rika smiled to gloss over the seriousness of the matter. She didn't want to overload Satoko. "She needs special help from Irie-sensei. For now, she has to stay put in the Sonozaki house and not leave."

"So you did know about that," Mion observed, voice low.

"How long until we see Shion-san again?" asked Satoko anxiously. "I want to apologize for crying in class so much and making her so angry. I made Nii-Nii stressed with all my whining and crying. But I've decided I'm going to be stronger now."

Giving Satoko's hand a quick squeeze, Rika answered, "We don't know how long yet, so-it-is. But we'll do all we can to make sure Shion gets better. If she's important to you now, Satoko, I promise I'll do all I can for her. Also, it's very good of you to want to become stronger now, so-it-is. I'm proud of you, Satoko. Nipah!"

"Oh really, it's nothing to fuss over," Satoko stammered, blushing lightly.

"I'm proud of you too, Satoko-chan," Mion told the girl. Then she looked back at Rika, and her face became grim. "Rika-chan, since you know about Shion, and you met with my family the day after Watanagashi, you probably know a lot more than you let on. Shion is my sister, and even though I did something to hurt her, I want to make it up to her. So you'll keep me in the loop about Shion, and about my grandmother and father, won't you?"

"I'll tell you everything that's safe to tell you," replied Rika honestly enough. One thing that wouldn't be safe to say was that she was planning to kill Mion's father, both to avenge Satoshi and to stop the Hinamizawa Syndrome. Ando was too old and too stubborn to accept injections from Irie; Rika could tell. The only way was to kill him.

* * *

Would the nightmare ever end? Shion didn't think so. All she knew was pain and terror. Her memories of life before were vague: the sound of Kasai's voice… the sweet smell of Satoshi's golden hair… the feeling of embracing Mion. All of that seemed like another life. The life Shion now lived was a whole other reality. It started with the cracking of a whip. Pain—there so much burning hot pain. And betrayal. Mion betrayed her. Her parents watched her be tortured. Her demonic grandmother had conquered her.

She tasted nothing but tears and felt nothing but stinging and aching for what seemed like days. The world was dark, barred with a gate of iron bars, and the floor was made of dirt. Gradually Shion became aware of candles lit in and around the cell that was her whole world.

Light was followed by the advent of food and water. Someone she didn't know gave her these provisions. She ate and drank greedily. Then a stranger entered her cell and started talking to her, saying all kinds of things she didn't understand. She felt sure he wanted to hurt her, so she attacked him. However, something poked her—a quick, stabbing pain—and she became sedated. Her memories were clouded.

When she woke again, Shion found that the wounds on her back were bandaged, and there were fresh clothes on her body. Along with the other things left with her—water, toiletries, a book, blankets, and a notebook—there was a large white pill. Shion swallowed it, and about an hour later, her mind and body became numb to pain. She drifted off to sleep. Though it felt wonderfully peaceful at first, her sleep was always interrupted by terrible nightmares of violence and bloodshed. In her dreams, she searched for Satoshi, but could never find him.

For several days the same pattern continued. Darkness, pain, and fear followed by food, water, and the stranger who injected her with sedatives and other medications. She was given the white pill for pain each day. Her wounds began to hurt less. By the fifth day, Shion was starting to feel more aware of the world and of reality. She had so many questions. Now and then someone—a girl whose voice sounded familiar—would come and tell her things. The name "Rika" came to mind. Most of the time, at first, Shion didn't understand what she was told. But her comprehension improved as the days passed.

Shion was in an underground cell, trapped by people claiming to be her family. That much she mostly understood. Every day, a doctor came and gave her a shot of something to sedate her, followed by a more painful injection, which, according to Rika, would slowly but surely restore her sanity. After almost a week in the cell, Shion was transported to a much more comfortable and bright place that smelled clean. She was told she was in the basement of the Irie clinic. The hospital bed was soft, and she no longer needed the white pill to control the pain in her back. For a few days, Shion seemed to be recovering.

Things were going well… until Rika and Irie made the mistake of thinking it was safe to let Shion see her twin. Mion was telling her sister the unfortunate news that Satoshi had disappeared, when the younger sister went berserk. It wasn't just because of Satoshi. Everything came back to her in a flash. Her years of abuse at Oryou's hands, her years trapped in harsh boarding schools, the night of her rape in Okinomiya, and the day her own family tortured her to punish her for the crime of first love.

It took several shots of strong sedatives to calm Shion down, and since she tried to attack Mion, punching her and grabbing at her neck, she had to be restrained. Her bonds kept her from moving much on the hospital bed, which only made her paranoia worse. She started to believe that everybody was in a conspiracy to keep her trapped so she couldn't ever find Satoshi. The sight of Mion or her mother made her insane. It was unfortunate, but Shion was not responding as well to the medication as Satoko did. After the incident with Mion, the poor girl had to be restrained and kept on sedatives most of the time, or she would immediately begin scratching at her throat.

"In this world," Rika thought, "Shion has taken the place of Houjou Satoshi." One day she went to see Shion in person again. Even though the older girl seemed fast asleep, Rika spoke to her. "I won't lie to you, Shion. I am the priestess of lies in this world, but this once, I'll speak to you truly. Satoshi Houjou is dead. Even if you recover, you will never be able to find him in this world. But rest assured. I will avenge Satoshi for you. I will dirty my hands for your sake and the sake of the village's safety."

She continued, "Sonozaki Ando has become paranoid and violent ever since he killed Houjou Satoshi. That's right. Your father purposely killed Satoshi. Also, he has lately begun killing yakuza enemies who compete with the Sonozaki Group. I fear he may even turn on his own men and kill them. There was that one world where he murdered his family. But rest assured.

Today," Rika smiled, "I found a gun hidden in Irie-sensei's office. I'm going to use that gun and kill Sonozaki Ando. Will you rest easier knowing that, Sonozaki Shion? Will you try to recover?"

Much to the surprise of the shrine maiden, Shion seemed to actually respond. Tears were flowing from her closed eyes. In answer to Rika's question, she nodded her head. It was only a slight movement, and maybe it meant nothing. According to nurse Takano, the girl was still unconscious. Even so, Rika knew she had been heard. Shion had put her hope in Rika.

 _Sonozaki Shion is the most strong-willed and determined of our circle of friends. Normally, this means she becomes the worst of the murderers when affected by the Syndrome. I was justified in trying to kill her, but that plan failed. I won't try it again. Because now, there's a chance—however slight—that Sonozaki Shion will direct her determination into recovery._


	9. Jikan no Keika (Passing of Time)

**9: Jikan no Keika (Passage of Time)**

Rika spent a lot of time contemplating the murder of Sonozaki Ando. She couldn't see how she could pull it off. Even though she had a gun and the actual act of killing him would be simple, what in the world would she do with his corpse? With her tiny, nine-year-old body, there was no way Rika could make Ando's body budge an inch. Furthermore, how was she supposed to get him alone? He was basically a yakuza boss, constantly on the move, often taking trips without any notice, and always surrounded by other yakuza, whether friend or foe.

Just when Rika ran out of ideas, an almost perfect opportunity appeared. It seemed like heaven was on her side for once. One of the lesser yakuza agents had challenged Ando in some way and ended up dead. Rika heard Oryou mention it during one of their clandestine meetings. That night, the old hag said, Ando would have to cut up his subordinate's body and throw it in the Onigafuchi Swamp. So Rika went to the swamp with Irie's handgun loaded and ready. She waited for what felt like an eternity, but finally it paid off, and the murderer appeared dragging a body in a bloody burlap sack.

Biding her time, Rika watched while Sonozaki Ando cut the body into twelve pieces with the help of a saw. It was sickening. Next the infected murderer cut up the burlap sack and wrapped the shreds tightly around each of the bloody body parts. Finally he deposited the pieces in the deepest water body of the swamp, throwing the saw in afterward. Then Rika knew it was time. She crept out of the bushes and trees where she had been hiding. She walked straight toward Ando, holding the gun behind her back.

"Who's there?" Shion's father demanded gruffly. As the short figure came closer, he swore and said, "Rika-chama. What the hell are you doing here? You scared ten years off my life."

"I will take all the remaining years of your life, thanks." Rika gripped the gun with both hands, aimed, and fired without hesitation.

She made sure to shoot twice; the first was a miss, hitting him in the stomach, but the second bullet successfully burrowed into his chest, just to the left of center. It was near enough to his heart to kill him in minutes. Ando fell to his knees beside the pool of black water, and dropping the gun, Rika threw all her weight against him. Ando fell into the bog with a loud splash. He groaned, grunted, and flailed his arms a bit before the water filled his mouth. The dark water became darker still with the blood of the yakuza boss. Rika threw the gun in the water after him and went home feeling a thousand times lighter.

* * *

The bodies in the swamp were never found, much to Rika's relief. Things in the village quieted down after that. Summer rolled into autumn, and autumn into winter. Before Rika knew it, spring had come again. Only one thing of real note had happened in the intervening time span, and it was good news. Shion started to show slow but steady signs of improvement. She no longer tried to claw at her throat, nor did she fight the nurses or doctors. Thus she was no longer restrained and kept asleep 24-7.

The real test of Shion's improvement came in early April. Irie agreed to let Mion try to see Shion again in order to judge if she was stable. Around that time, the Maebara family moved to Hinamizawa and Keiichi prepared to transfer in at the start of the new schoolyear. Ryuugu Rena and her father moved back to the village as well.

There had only been a few worlds where Rena and Keiichi transferred in at the same time, and those worlds deviated from the normal patterns quite a bit. Rika tried not to let fear of the unknown get the better of her. She waited patiently for school to start so she could get close to the new transfer students as possible. In the meantime, Mion went to the clinic to visit her sister, promising Rika that she would let her know how it went immediately after.

* * *

Shion had no conscious memory of the words Rika had spoken to her in her sleep. Perhaps her subconscious was aware, because something must have triggered her recovery. But as far as she consciously knew, Satoshi was missing (rather than confirmed dead) and he had not been avenged. The Sonozaki Group might have had him spirited away—or they might have killed him. Her father had vanished, and Shion wondered darkly if he had fled the village from guilt over involvement in Satoshi's likely demise.

While she had improved, the infected girl still found herself thinking now and then that there was some conspiracy against her. There was definitely conspiracy surrounding Satoshi's case. And though she no longer tried to attack her sister when she saw her, Shion had not forgiven Mion. She had not forgiven anyone in her family for what they had done to her. In truth, Shion was glad her father was gone, and she wanted Oryou, Kimiyoshi, and maybe even Akane dead. However, she had no plans to kill them herself. That was because something stronger than her hate and resentment had surfaced in her mind.

A mission. Namely, the mission to protect Satoko, just like Satoshi had asked. Her previous hatred for the little girl was gone. Defending the orphan girl was the best way to honor Satoshi, and as a bonus, it might anger her heinous grandmother. When Mion came to visit her sister in April, Shion felt repulsed at the sight of her; but she buried those feelings, thinking only of Satoko. That was how she coped.

"Hey, Shion." Mion entered the room and said on the chair beside the hospital bed. Though she had seen Shion a few times without any problems, it was always from behind glass. This was their first time meeting face-to-face and talking since last summer. Judging by her fidgeting and reluctance to look Shion in the eye, Mion was clearly nervous.

"Onee," her sister greeted her, a bit stiffly. "It's good to see you." In reality, Shion felt no pleasure from seeing her twin, but it seemed like the right thing to say. Besides, Mion would be able to tell her things that she wanted to know, so seeing her actually might be a good thing. "I'm glad they're letting us talk together now."

Smiling, Mion said, "It took long enough. Now as long as you don't try to strangle me again, we'll be able to see each other whenever we want!" Here she gave a rowdy laugh to hide her apprehension.

"Tell me about the outside." Shion didn't waste any time.

"The… outside?" Mion gave a nervous chuckle. "I'm not… really sure what you mean, sis."

"The village. Our mother. Oni-baba. Rika-chan and Satoko. News, any news. Word on what's been happening. That's what I mean."

"Oh. Well, that I can certainly help with, sis." Mion began a rant about the happenings in Hinamizawa. Sonozaki Akane, who had been living in a house with her husband, had moved into the main family estate with Oryou. She distracted herself from the grief of losing her husband by taking care of Oryou in her old age. The Oni-baba resisted help, of course, but she was slowly mellowing out, according to Mion.

The news went on and on. Kimiyoshi had a bad back. Satoko and Rika were still living together, and Satoko was in infinitely better shape that she had been last summer. Tomitake Jirou had come to the village again to take pictures. The Ryuugu family had returned as well. Even some total outsiders, the Maebara family, had moved into Hinamizawa. Mion had seen their son Keiichi briefly, and confessed that she thought he was handsome.

"What about the deaths, the disappearances?" demanded Shion impatiently.

"Hmm… not much news there, I'm afraid," rejoined Mion. "There's still no word or sign of Oto-sama. It's said that Satoko's aunt was poisoned and that's why she died, but the police don't have any leads on who might have done it, or even if could have been accidental poisoning. And…" She hesitated, and then clenched her fists and spoke. "There's no sign of Satoshi-kun."

That was about what Shion had expected. Still, it felt good to have things confirmed. She almost smiled at her sister out of habit, but looking at her, she again felt an overwhelming wave of hatred. Mion hadn't even apologized for what happened last June.

"Let's be clear on something," Shion decided to tell her twin. "I haven't forgiven you. For telling Oni-baba about Satoshi. For threatening Kasai. For lashing me. Things will never be the same between us. But I won't do anything to you, provided you do two things for me. First, look me in the eye and tell me you had nothing to do with Satoshi disappearing. Second, you've got to let me pretend to be you sometimes so I can listen in on Oni-baba's evil plans."

Mion met the first request without any hesitation. She moved closer to the bed, leaned over Shion, and stared into her blue-green eyes. "I didn't have anything to do with Satoshi's disappearance. I promise you as your twin sister. I swear by Oyashiro-sama."

"Keep your oaths," Shion said contemptibly. "You'll let us switch places sometimes, right?"

The elder sister nodded. "Yes, but let me attach a few rules. You can't pretend to me at work or school, only at the family shrine to listen in on meetings. There's a reason for this. First of all, there's no need to hide your identity since grandma knows you're here. Second, she gave her blessing for you to work at Angel Morte, so Uncle Yoshiro wants to hire you as soon as you're well. And third, grandma's not going to send you back to St. Lucia's, so you can enroll in the Hinamizawa school as yourself, Sonozaki Shion. We'll be able to go to the same school! It's great news, isn't it?"

When she was happy and excited, Mion looked her best. Though relatively tall and strong, with her hair in a boyish ponytail, the teenager had all the right curves, and quite a rack to boot. Her face looked menacing when she was serious or upset, but when she smiled, Mion lit up the room. Shion wondered if she herself looked that beautiful when she smiled. She wondered if she would ever have occasion to smile and laugh again. Without her beloved Satoshi, the younger twin didn't think she could ever smile genuinely again.

"Wonderful news," Shion agreed, her voice more than a little dry and sardonic. "Walking to school with the person who gave me seven lifelong scars on my back. Being told I'm allowed to live and work by an old hag so monstrous I don't think she's even human. Being told I'm allowed to live in the same village as my family for the first time since elementary school. Yes, it's all great news. Forgive me for not being able to grin and laugh as easily as you."

Realizing her sister wasn't about to let go of her grudge, Mion sighed. "It's alright for you to hate me; I deserve it. But I hope one day I can make it up to you and earn your trust again. I've got to get to the town council meeting, but there's one more thing I want to clear up first."

The elder sister took on a somber expression. "I have been allowed in most of the councils of the Sonozaki Group," she stated. "They're so dark sometimes that I can barely believe it. Our family has done terrible things. There's no question that we're a cruel house who tries to force our values and judgements onto the village. But listen. I truly don't believe the Sonozaki Group was involved with the disappearance of Satoshi-kun."

Shion scoffed shamelessly. "What makes you so sure?"

"Grandma would have told me if she were involved. All she said was that Satoshi's fate was up to Oyashiro-sama."

"That's not vague at all." The younger twin's voice dripped sarcasm. "Even if Oni-baba looked you in the eye and told you she wasn't involved, it wouldn't mean anything. She could just lie."

"I'm saying I don't think grandma would lie to me at this point," Mion insisted.

"Yes, and I'm saying that's bullshit."

"There's one other thing." Again showing her nervousness, Mion fidgeted with her hands. "Rika-chan. Rika told me she doesn't know anything about what happened to Satoshi or where he is."

"Rika?" It was difficult for Shion to keep the tone of derision out of her voice. "What the hell would Rika know? Sure, she's technically the head of the Furude house, but she's just a kid."

"There's another Rika you don't know." When she spoke of it, even Mion looked a little spooked. "Sometimes she talks like—like someone who's older than any of us. Even grandma. She has a real dark side. Because of her ability to predict the future, Rika is respected and held in high honor by the Sonozaki House. She attends all the meetings—even the ones I'm not allowed to go to. In this world, Rika is the closest person of anyone to the many dark schemes of Hinamizawa. She told me she didn't know about Satoshi, and I believe her."

For a minute Shion stayed quiet, taking it all in. Then she forced a smile. "If you say so, Onee, I'll try my best to believe you, and Rika-chan too. Even if you did have something to do with Satoshi's disappearance, I've decided I'm not going to seek vengeance. There's something more important to me. I have to honor Satoshi's wish. I will protect and care for Satoko. That should keep me busy. Now, you should get to your council meeting."

Before leaving, Mion dared to give her sister a quick hug. Shion did not hug her back, but she also didn't draw away. "I'm off then," Mion said, smiling. "You did well talking to me and staying calm, Shion. After this, they're going to start letting you go outside. Soon you'll be released from the clinic. Take care now, sis."

To be Continued


	10. Nejireta Kokoro (Twisted Minds)

**10: Nejireta Kokoro (Twisted Minds)**

Maebara Keiichi couldn't have been happier about his parents' decision to move from the big city to a tiny town out in the sticks like Hinamizawa. It wasn't really because he loved nature or the idea of country life; rather, he was happy because his new home was so far removed from his old one that nobody knew anything about him. Keiichi wanted to forget the life he had been living in the city. He wanted to forget the people who about knew him and what he was.

Back in his home city, Keiichi had not only been a trouble-maker, but also a trouble-maker said to have a twisted and perverted mind. There were plenty of other rowdy boys of fifteen with various stresses on them and lack of a mature set of social values. They acted out by smoking cigarettes, starting fist-fights, bullying others at school, or perhaps trying to get in bed with a woman. But Keiichi was different. His way of "acting out" was unheard of.

In the boy's possession was an old but usable BB gun, the type that the military sometimes used in quick-kill training practices in the 1970s. Keiichi had won it (in a casual gambling game) from a friend whose father was in the JSDF. Though not capable of causing death, the gun was more of a weapon than a toy, having high velocity, and projectiles capable of penetrating skin at fifty feet or less. Being hit with one of those projectiles would cause a bruise best-case, and a penetration wound or fractured bone at worst-case. In addition, the gun was built to resemble an army rifle; anyone might jump to the conclusion that it was real.

It disgusted him to think of it now, but up until recently, Keiichi quite enjoyed the feeling of shooting people. At first, he fired the gun at cats and dogs, but he quickly grew bored with them. He thought about who would be the best human targets. His twisted mind finally settled on elementary-school-age children, and in particular, girls. Why? Because they exhibited more terror and looked more helpless than people of any other demographic.

Seeing the kids cry, panic, and despair gave Keiichi a strange, dark sense of pleasure. Over the course of autumn 1982, the Maebara boy shot twenty-one young girls on their way to or from school, causing serious injury to eighteen of them.

Naturally, Keiichi's malicious antics could not continue forever. Soon enough, the terrified girls conquered their fear and told their teachers and parents everything. Everyone was warned of the perverted delinquent who hurt kids. Shortly after, one of the girls was able to identify the shooter as Maebara Keiichi. Then the whole neighborhood—along with the school and the local police force—took a stand against Keiichi. He was arrested and questioned by police. He and his parents received calls and mail full of hate and threats: legal threats and threats of bodily harm. He was expelled from school. His family became social outcasts.

Half because of laws protecting juveniles, and half because his father paid off all the families who threatened to press charges, Keiichi was not formally summoned to court. He received no conviction and no sentence. That being said, he was punished in other ways. Ruining the reputation of his parents. Suffering terrible insults and physical harm from the parents of the attacked children, to whom he went to apologize. Losing all his friends.

And then there was the worst punishment of all. Keiichi went to visit each of the injured girls, and every one of them looked at him like he was abomination, a demon, a freak of nature. None of them forgave him. They feared and hated him. They expressed how terrified they had been and how much their injuries hurt. It was then that Keiichi learned to feel shame. He sincerely regretted his actions. He welcomed all derision and hate, knowing how much he deserved it. What in the world had possessed him to do something so detestable?

The end result of the scandal was the relocation of the Maebara family. They could no longer stay in a place where everyone knew Keiichi's sins and reviled him and his family. So it was that Keiichi came to Hinamizawa, desperate to start a new life. This time things would be different. He would never seek that strange, dark pleasure again. He would never mistreat children again. He would be their friend and protector instead. Going to school in Hinamizawa was about redemption, and proving to himself and the world that Maebara Keiichi could be a good person.

* * *

When did it begin, the madness that drove her to such extreme thoughts and actions? Ryuugu Rena didn't know for sure when it started. She felt suspicion and distrust toward everyone and everything around her, and her mind was plagued with dark thoughts. At first, it was just bothersome, but Rena could push it out of her mind. Her madness did not become serious until the day that her mother told her she was divorcing her father, leaving him for another man. Moreover, Mrs. Ryuguu was already pregnant with the other man's child. She told Rena all this and asked if the girl would prefer to live with her or with her father.

Betrayal. Her mother had betrayed her father, her daughter, and her honor. The rage that Rena felt toward her treacherous mother was so powerful it scared her. She found herself wanting to hurt the woman. She even dreamed of killing her. A few months passed while the divorce was settled, and during that time, Rena went to great lengths to control the madness building up inside her. She would stay outside for hours, beating trees, boxes, and old furniture with clubs, blades, and bats. It was the only way to get the anger off her chest.

Along with the fury came feelings of paranoia and fear. Rena felt that something was always watching her. Sometimes, she thought she heard footsteps behind her, but when she turned around, nobody was there. At night, she lay awake in bed, thinking of how much she hated her mother, how much she hated school, and how much she feared that everyone around her was planning to sabotage her. On nights like these, Rena sometimes saw the shadow of a figure next to her bed. She would sit up and cry out, only to see the shadow disappear. As the girl fitfully tried to sleep, she often heard the same words whispered over and over in the dark: "Gomenasai. Gomenasai. Gomenasai."

Having spent her younger years living in Hinamizawa, Rena knew about the village's guardian deity, Oyashiro. There were many legends of Oyashiro and of the demon-people that came from Onigafuchi swamp. Normally, Rena would not have paid any heed to the village's old religion. However, before her family moved away to the city, they had been given a warning by the Sonozaki House. An ancient rule of the village stated that outsiders should not be allowed in and insiders should not be allowed out. The Ryuugu family was told that leaving the village would incur the curse of Oyashiro.

Rena thought nothing of the admonition at first. However, as her sanity deteriorated, she came to believe in its credence. She knew she was being haunted by something—what else could it be Oyashiro-sama, punishing her for leaving Hinamizawa. The ancient god's curse must also be what caused Rena's violent thoughts and dreams, her need to batter and break things, and her steadily increasing fear that everyone was out to get her. Even though Rena knew she was being cursed, she didn't know what to do to make it stop. Things only became worse.

Her insomnia worsened, and she was driven mad by constantly itchy skin and the feeling of being watched. The feelings of anger and rage worsened too. Rena truly thought she was going to break down and kill her own mother. Instead of resorting to that, she took out her violent impulses on her own body. With a box-cutter she took from her dad's office, Rena cut her own wrist. To her disgust and revulsion, the blood that dripped out of the wound was accompanied by what looked like small, pale, wriggling worms.

It had to be some kind of parasite living inside her. Rena knew it. She felt sick and dizzy and did not sleep for several days after. She couldn't even eat, or she would just throw it up again thinking of the worms inside her. The ongoing divorce and her mother's flippant attitude droze her crazy. The itching and the feeling of being watched never stopped. School was becoming more and more of a strain. All these factors led up the cursed girl to lashing out at the world.

On a day like any other, Rena went to school, acquired a baseball bat, and set to work shattering every window in the faculty. Two boys tried to stop her, but she whammed each of them with the bat: one in the head, the other in the ribs. The insane girl continued smashing windows, and the broken glass flew at her, cutting her skin in several places. When a trickle of blood ran down her arm, Rena licked it up. There was something pleasant about the taste.

After this incident, the school suspended Rena indefinitely. The families of the injured boys did report the case of assault to the police, but they decided not to press charges, taking the view that Rena was mentally ill and would only be made worse by a criminal conviction. Mr. and Mrs. Ryuguu agreed that their daughter was unwell and made her start seeing a psychologist for counseling and a psychiatrist for medication. Rena hated taking the medication, but her father begged her to obey, and she could never find it in herself to defy him for long.

Mr. Ryuugu announced that he would be moving back to Hinamizawa, and Rena made it clear that she was going with him. She was glad to see her mother finally leave the house. Now the only question was whether the girl would be able to stop cutting herself and breaking things. Thankfully, the prescribed antipsychotics and antidepressants helped the girl's condition significantly. Rena was able to restrain herself from misbehaving so that the move to Hinamizawa went smoothly.

Almost immediately upon arriving, Rena's symptoms lessened. Perhaps Oyashiro's curse was lifting now that she had returned to the village. After a checkup and blood test at the Irie clinic, the girl was told she had no parasites. She realized that the worms under her skin must have been hallucinations. Sometimes, Rena still heard footsteps following her, and heard the voice whispering "Gomenasai" over her bed at night. But this happened much less often, and it stopped bothering her when it did happen. At long last, Rena was able to rest well, get on a healthy sleep schedule, and eat meals without nausea. The itching went away too.

The madness was over, Rena told herself. Now she would begin a new life with her father here in Hinamizawa. Her real name was actually Reina, and only upon moving back to the village did she change it to Rena. It was symbolic of starting again. At home, she would be emotionally stable so that she could help take care of her father. At school, she would make friends and establish herself as a well-behaved young lady. With the new schoolyear beginning in early April, Rena felt nothing if not determined.

* * *

It had been a long time since Hinamizawa had anybody new move in. With the Ryuguu family returning and the Maebara family arriving, the villagers decided to throw a welcome party. Keiichi and Rena went to the celebration not knowing what to expect. The festivities were held outdoors for the most part, and included freshly prepared food, games for the young children, sake for the adults, and craft activities like making festival decorations, paper lanterns, masks, and prayer signs and tags to hang on shrines. A few hundred people showed up.

It was there that Keiichi and Rena met. Several picnic tables had been lined up to form one extremely long table to seat about fifty people. There, the villagers who loved to cook were serving pork-filled menchi-katsu, savory miso soup, and barley tea with ice. The food smelled so delicious that Keiichi ran to the table, took a seat, and waited to be served without even looking at who had sat next to.

It was Rena. She noticed him and recognized at once that he was not a local. So she politely coughed to get his attention and then introduced herself formally. Flustered, Keiichi did the same. An awkward silence followed as they both tried to think of what to say. They stole quick glances at each other, each trying to get a feel for the other. Keiichi's casual dress, relaxed posture, and unruly brown hair made him look a little wild. Rena, too, looked out of place with her bright white dress, tied with a purple ribbon, and a cute but outlandish hat.

"Man," said Keiichi, stretching out his arms above his head, "this pork miso, though! It's the best! Am I right?" He knew his tone was overly loud and friendly, but he didn't know how else compensate for his nervousness.

"It's not bad," Rena agreed gingerly. Sensing the new boy's nervousness, she tried to start conversation. "How do you like Hinamizawa so far, Maebara-san?"

"It's…" Keiichi scratched at his spiky hair, considering. "It's… different. I'm glad everyone is so welcoming. They all seem so cheery. But I kind of wonder what everybody is so happy about." He kept talking, forgetting to be cautious of manners. "How do these people keep themselves entertained out here in the middle of nowhere? I mean, there's not much to do here. Not even a bookstore, let alone a game center." Suddenly, he realized what he was saying, and blushed. "Oh—but I'm not trying to be insulting!" he exclaimed. "The country, ah! I love it! The air is so fresh! The mountains and woods make me want to set off on some kind of epic adventure!"

The boy was trying so hard to make up for his mistake that Rena thought it was cute. She chuckled. "Hehe, you're a funny one. I'm sure you've heard, but my family and I just moved back to Hinamizawa after being away a long time. I couldn't be happier to be back."

Good, the conversation was rolling again. "So," asked Keiichi, "you're a country girl through and through, huh?"

"I guess." Rena shrugged. "It's more like, I couldn't stand things in the city anymore." She wasn't sure why she was revealing a little bit of vulnerability, but something about Keiichi made it easy to be honest. "Here, I can get a fresh start."

"Looks like we have something in common." The smile had vanished from the new boy's face for a moment as he remembered his own dark past. "I'm looking for a fresh start too." Keiichi mustered up his grin again and raised his glass of barley tea. "Kompai! Here's to both of us, Keiichi and Ryuugu-san!"

Rena raised her glass as well. "Kompai." Then, fidgeting with her ribbon a little, she said, "I heard you're sixteen, a year older than me. So, you don't have to be so formal when you address me."

"Well then, what would my lady like to be called?" Keiichi tried to be as warm and kind as possible.

"Ano… R-Rena-chan would be fine with me," answered the girl, a light blush on her cheeks below her bright blue eyes. "If I'm not being too bold, that is."

"Nothing wrong with a girl who knows what she wants!" Keiichi proclaimed. "Well then, you can call me Keiichi."

"Can I really?" A small but genuine smile lifted the corners of Rena's soft lips. "Well then, Ke-Keiichi-kun. Eto… sono… Can I give you a little advice?"

"Of course!" Keiichi gave her a thumbs up. He had a tendency to talk with broad gestures. "I'll listen to anything the lovely lady Rena-chan condescends to tell me!"

"How charming and suave." Rena narrowed her eyes a bit, her expression playful. "Now, now, I hope you're not the kind of guy who chases girls around all the time."

"I won't do anything to make any girl uncomfortable," Keiichi responded boldly, "on my word as a man! But I just love to compliment girls. All girls are special. Now, what was that piece of advice you had for me?"

"Well, if you haven't done so already, I think you should go meet the Sonozaki family and Kimiyoshi Ojii-san." Rena thought she had better explain in case the newcomer didn't already know. "Hinamizawa has three main families that are like nobles, with a lot of influence. There's the Furude Family, the Sonozaki Group, and the Kimiyoshi House. The Sonozakis, in particular, kind of run the village from behind the scenes."

"Oh, I see where you're going." Keiichi nodded energetically. "I should go pay my respects to them, then!" He stuffed the last bit of his katsu into his mouth and swallowed, standing up quickly. "Will you come along with me?"

"Of course." Rena stood and started walking alongside her new friend. "And I'll introduce you to Mii-chan and Shii-chan." She added, "They're the twin daughters of the Sonozaki house. I think they're just a year older than you."

Keiichi grinned. "The more girls the merrier! Let's go."

He and Rena hadn't gone far before they were interrupted. A little girl was running down the way, and while looking back over her shoulder, she accidently rammed into Keiichi. The boy kept his footing, but the little girl fell backward onto her rump. She said, "Gomenasai, so-it-is."

"Ah, it's no problem." Keiichi offered his hand and helped the little girl stand up. She couldn't have been older than ten. Her huge, adorable eyes were dark and tinged with purple. "More importantly, are you alright?"

"Oh, Keiichi-kun," Rena cut in, recognizing the little girl. "This is Furude Rika. She's the Miko at the Furude Shrine, and very respected in the village. They say she's the reincarnation of our god, Oyashiro-sama. Rika-chan," she said to the girl, "this is Maebara Keiichi-kun. He'll be going to school with us starting next week."

"I know who he is, so-it-is." Rika looked far more serious in expression than the average ten-year-old girl at a party. "I predicted that you would come, Keiichi-kun. I predicted you returning this year too, Rena-san." She closed her eyes, grinned, and said, "Nipah!"

Again, Rena thought she had better explain things to her new friend. "You see, Rika gives prophecies. According to the village council, they really come true. It's said that Oyashiro-sama lets her see visions of the future."

"So you can see the future, huh?" Keiichi didn't believe in the supernatural, but he was not the kind of person to shoot down a girl's dreams, not to mention disrespect the village. "That's quite an interesting skill, Rika-chan."

Just then, the group of three was joined by a girl about Rika's age. She had short but beautiful golden hair. "Gomen, Rika," she said, panting, having run to catch up with her friend. "I didn't see where you went. You ran off all of a sudden. Oh, who are you talking to?"

"Good evening, Satoko-chan." Rena bowed her head politely. "Do you remember me? You were a toddler last time I was here. I'm Ryuugu Rena. You can call me Rena-san. We'll be in school together soon. This is Maebara Keiichi. He'll be with us too once classes start."

"So you're the newcomer!" Whenever Satoko was in high spirits, she liked to try to get a rise out of people. So she gave him a mischievous smile and said in a sarcastic tone, "Welcome to the village. Let's see how long a rich city boy like you can survive out here."

"Satoko-chan," said Rika calmly, "it's not nice to tease new friends."

"No problem, no problem!" Keiichi chuckled. "I can deal with a jab now and then. Spunky girls are just as great as the polite ones like you, Rika-chan."

"Well, well," said a bold and confident voice, "if it isn't Rena-san!" Sonozaki Mion appeared from the crowd gathering behind the children. Along with a tight-fitted turtleneck that brought out her chest, Mion wore jeans as usual and had her hair tied back in a rough ponytail. "Welcome back to the neighborhood," she said to Rena, kindly and emphatically. "Ah, and this must be Maebara-san. I saw you briefly when you and your dad came to visit last month. I'm Sonozaki Mion. Pleased to meet you." Although it wasn't customary, she held out her hand.

Keiichi shook hands with her at once. "Pleased to meet you as well! Please, call me Keiichi-kun!" He had always gotten along best with tomboys, enjoying the chance to compete with them in sports and games.

"Keiichi-kun?" It was Shion's turn to appear. "Ah, that rolls off the tongue nicely, doesn't it, Onee?" As if she were the polar opposite of her sister, Shion was wearing a traditional flower-patterned yukata with a pastel-pink obi. Her hair was up in a bun held in place by a long pin whose color matched the obi. With her outfit, silky hair, well-developed chest, and smooth legs, Shion looked so beautiful that Keiichi blushed a little. "Hey there, Keiichi-kun. I'm the younger twin sister, Sonozaki Shion."

Rika cut in before the two could get to talking. "Now everybody knows each other, so-it-is. We're all going to be classmates, so let's all try to get along. Nipah!"

"I say we start with a game!" suggested Mion, feeling peppy. She loved games and challenges, and playing them with new friends was always more enjoyable. Any shyness she had felt at first melted away once the six friends got into their game of truth-or-dare.

As usual, Mion played to win, and enjoyed herself a great deal. From the looks of it, everybody else was having a good time, too. Keiichi and Rena fit in well right off the bat. Satoko made it her mission to try to outdo Keiichi, and Rena was so taken with the cuteness of her pouty face that she declared she wanted to take the little girl home. Rika smiled and played as well, but her smile was fake. Pretending to be a happy child was as easy as putting on a mask for her.

So we are together in this world once more, Rika thought to herself. The big question is what happens from here. Who will contract Hinamizawa Syndrome? Will it be one person, or will there be multiple threats? Will I be able to predict things and react the right way? Can I stop these seemingly innocent friends from killing each other? Will I be able to save myself? I must. I won't let anyone here kill me. No matter how much I must stain my hands with blood, I will conquer all these threats and break free of this long, repeating loop of death.


	11. Kakushigoto (Secrets)

**11: Kakushigoto (Secrets, Hidden Things)**

From early April to late May, Keiichi and Rena went to school and became good friends with Mion, Shion, Satoko, and Rika. In this world, it was Shion who thought up the idea of having a club after school. She wanted a way to give Satoko more time to run and play like a little kid should. In the club, they always played games and competitions, sometimes outdoors and sometimes inside.

All members were expected to put their all into winning. The losers would suffer a penalty game where the winner came up with something embarrassing for the losers to do, such as wear a humiliating costume. The competitive nature of the club was healthy for the children and teenagers, and helped keep them from away from the dark, violent thoughts most of them were prone to think.

Everyone soon came to love Rena and Keiichi. Both were highly intelligent, having no problems making good grades at school. They were both quick to smile and laugh, and tried to lighten the mood when things went sour. The two of them were expressive and unafraid to share their thoughts or new ideas. They were often the ones who made the games most challenging. Keiichi and Rena had a lot in common, but of course they each had their own quirks too.

Rena was soft-spoken and sweet-natured except if she saw something she thought was cute, in which case she went fanatic over it and declared she wanted to take it home. Her gentle nature also disappeared when she played in competitive games. Then, even when she was silent, her bearing would become so threatening that it was hard to believe she was an innocent fifteen year old girl. One of Rena's quirks was collecting old items, and she sometimes went to the junkyard to look for things she liked. Her five friends went with her sometimes.

Keiichi was brash and boyish. He flirted with the girls sometimes and often talked and joked about how they could be more cute or appealing. Even though he was intelligent, his impulsiveness meant he sometimes charged into things without thinking, and ended up looking silly. When he got serious, Keiichi could be both upfront and commanding, or cunning and secretive. Though he put up a front of being better than those around him, the boy of sixteen had a humble heart. After all he had done in the past, he did all he could to make his new friends happy, entertain them, protect them, and love them.

All seemed to be going well. Still, Rika did not let her guard down. This was a world where Ryuugu Rena was likely going to develop insanity. The main trigger would be the appearance of Rina Mamiya and her scam against Rena's father. Thinking ahead, Rika ordered the Sonozaki Group to do some fishing around. Kasai returned to her with the information that Rina Mamiya and Houjou Teppei were staying in a hotel in Jouga, the large city west of Okinomiya. They were most likely on their way to the village to stir up some trouble.

Rika tried ordering the Sonozaki Group to kill Teppei and Mamiya, but Oryou refused. The once violent and criminally active family had mellowed out a lot in the past year and would not agree to assassination even if Rika begged. Besides, with each passing day, there were fewer yakuza agents in the Sonozaki Group that could have carried out such a dark deed. With the death of Sonozaki Ando and the retirement of old Tatsuyoshi-san, the Sonozaki's yakuza days were finally over once and for all.

Thus, it seemed there was little Rika could do. Houjou Teppei and Rina Mamiya moved to an apartment in Okinomiya and came to visit Hinamizawa often to scam people out of their money. Mamiya started dating Rena's father. In response, Rena started to withdraw socially, keeping things to herself. It was an early sign of her madness. Rika grew frustrated. She raked her brain for ideas, though, and finally settled on something. It was a gamble, and it wasn't right, but it just might work.

* * *

Before the shrine maiden could get her plan into action, however, another significant event happened around the same time. It was an incident that Rika could not recall seeing in another world before. Shion had been spending the afternoon with Satoko while Rika was having her secret talk with Kasai. The twin and the young child visited the Furude Shrine, which could only be reached by walking up the outdoor steps reaching twenty feet uphill.

Satoko was quiet that day, and Shion had been trying everything she could think of her cheer her up. They were holding hands. "I miss my Nii-Nii," Satoko confessed tearfully when Shion asked her what was really going on. "And… that man… I saw that man in town yesterday."

"You mean your uncle?" inquired Shion. "Don't worry, Satoko. We won't let him get to you. And as for the other thing… I miss Satoshi too." They paused at the top of the steps. "I was in love with your Nii-Nii. I'm sorry he can't be here." Shion hugged the little golden-haired girl. "I'll try my best to be your Nee-nee, though."

"I don't deserve such a nice big sister," Satoko said, breaking away from the embrace. Her violet eyes were clouded with tears. "I didn't deserve Nii-Nii either. I did something horrible. It was a long time ago. I didn't want to remember, but I thought of it last night." Satoko started to look panicked, hugging herself and rocking back and forth where she knelt on the ground.

Shion took a seat beside her young friend and laid a comforting hand on her thin shoulder. Satoko was wearing a pale green and pink summer dress with a flower pattern. It was a shame to see her so sad and scared when she could have looked so cute. "Will you tell me what happened?" Shion requested. "I think you'll feel better that way."

The ten-year-old was breathing heavily and raggedly, her eyes wide, her lip trembling. "You have to promise," she murmured. "Promise you won't tell anyone. Especially not Rika."

"I promise," Shion swore. She gently brushed Satoko's hair with her hand. "Nobody but us will know. And I also promise to forgive you for whatever you did. No matter what."

Saying it out loud was too difficult. Satoko had to lean over and whisper in Shion's ear. "My mom and dad didn't fall into the river by accident. I pushed them. I killed my parents."

At first, Shion didn't know what to say because of the shock. In a moment, though, she remembered hearing that Satoko took daily injections for some reason. She put two and two together. "It's not your fault, Satoko," Shion stated. "You did that because you were sick. You're much better now. Nothing like that will happen again."

Though she tried to suppress it, a sob escaped from Satoko. "How can you forgive me so easily?" she cried. "I'm a murderer."

"I can forgive you because I've thought of murdering people before, too." There was no point in hiding the truth. "I'm sick just like you. Even to this day, I want to kill my grandmother, and old man Kimiyoshi. I want to sit back and watch my mother be tortured like she sat back and watched it happen to me. I want to hurt Mion, too. It's not fair that she wasn't punished." Shion squeezed Satoko's hand. "This is our secret. Don't tell anyone that I feel this way. And I'll make sure nobody ever hears about what happened with your parents."

The teenage girl did not know that her words were the height of irony. Just as she finished speaking, Mion appeared. She was breathless, having just climbed to the top of the stairs. Her countenance was grim. It was possible that Mion had overheard the conversation. A sense of fear and dread gripped Shion, but she took a deep breath and tried to think clearly. Maybe Mion looked serious for another reason. Maybe she hadn't heard about Satoko's secret.

Unlike Shion, Satoko did not stop to take a breath and think. She stood up and wordlessly threw herself against Mion. Shion managed to catch Satoko, who almost fell from her forward force, but she could not reach Mion. The elder twin screamed as she crashed down the long stairway. She rolled over and over, her body bashing against the stone numerous times. At least once, her head impacted the ground. She landed at a bad angle, snapping her left arm.

The sound of Mion's agonized moaning rose to meet Shion and Satoko where they stood at the top of the stairs in silence. The shock had them both at a standstill for a minute. Then they each screamed. "What have I done?" Satoko wailed, and Shion cried out, "Onee-chan!" They both rushed down the stairs to help.

* * *

The story that reached Rika was different from the truth. According to Shion, it was a simple accident. Her sister had mis-stepped at the top of the stairs, falling all the way down and becoming badly injured.

When Rika heard of this, she feared the worst: that Sonozaki girl would die, and the loss of her would drive one of the other friends to insanity. However, her fear did not become reality. Mion's life was not in danger. Still, she had to be sent to a hospital in the city of Jouga for a head injury, sprained legs, and a badly broken left arm. Though Mion was expected to make a full recovery, it might take some time. The elder twin would have to stay in Jouga for a few days at least, maybe a few weeks even.

There was one other thing that Rika feared concerning Mion's fall. Was it really an accident? Shion may have pushed her sister, still harboring hatred and suspicion toward her family as a result of what they did to her last year. Even if she did push Mion, Rika needed the younger twin for her plan. Shion was the key to dealing with Houjou Teppei and Rina Mamiya.

* * *

The night following Mion's fall was surprisingly cool for being late May. That night, Shion was preparing for bed in her apartment in Okinomiya. Kasai was out for the night. Someone knocked on the door, and when Shion answered, she was astonished to see Rika standing there, alone in the dark, with a cold sober look on her face. She was allowed inside at once, and the older girl prepared some warm tea for the both of them.

"What brings you here, Rika-chan?" Shion asked, feeling a little unnerved. Mion had told her about that "other Rika" who was always grim and talked like an adult. This was her first time seeing it herself, though. "You shouldn't come to Okinomiya all alone, you know. It's dangerous for little girls to travel alone at night."

"Don't worry about that." Rika dismissed the subject in the deeper, more adult voice she used when she needed to be serious. She addressed her without any honorifics, as if she were far older than her friend. "Shion. You are still somewhat affected by the sickness. Isn't that right?"

Though Shion didn't answer, her face betrayed her.

"I see I am correct." Rika took a sip of tea. "Then I'll get right to the point. You pushed Mion off the stairs at the Shrine this afternoon. Didn't you?"

Protecting Satoko was more important than anything to Shion. She had to make sure Rika didn't get any closer to the truth. So she settled on deceit. "Yes," the teenage girl admitted, evenly, and with a deadpan expression. "Mion gave me seven scars on my back to last for perhaps my whole life. It's not fair that she wasn't punished."

"Were you trying to kill her?" asked Rika, equally unhumorous. "Had you been planning it?"

"No." Shion shook her head. "I did it on a sudden impulse. I felt guilty right afterward."

"Did you take your injection this morning?"

"I did not," Shion lied.

"Good," said Rika, much to her companion's surprise. "Don't take it tomorrow either. There is something I need your help with. But you won't be able to do it with the C3 injection inhibiting your violent urges and paranoia."

"Wait, wait." The teenage girl put her teacup down with a clang. "You're saying you need me to be crazy?"

"Just for a day, maybe two. If you start showing signs of level five, I'll inject you immediately. Worst case scenario, you spend a few days at the Irie Clinic, becoming stable again. It's a risk, yes. There's always the chance you won't stabilize. There's a chance you'll go crazy and try to kill members of your family, or the village leader, and even myself."

The furrow in her brow above her nose showed that Shion was doubtful, confused, and surprised. "Why would you ask me to take a risk?" she questioned. "What is it you need my help with?"

"Killing," replied Rika simply. "I believe you have a talent for it. Don't take that the wrong way," she added; "everyone in our little friend group has the ability and propensity to kill. But right now you're the only one whose lust for violence is currently active. And you're also the only one I feel I can trust to help me with this and not tell anyone else. It's for Satoko. And Rena. I would normally do it myself, but with this body… with my limitations, I need a partner."

Something in her tone, her frankness, and the way she looked right into Shion's eyes was convincing. "What do you need me to do?" the teenager asked, willing to trust Rika, and determined to protect Satoko. "Who are we killing? And why?"

"Houjou Teppei and Rina Mamiya." Rika went on to explain that if Rina was scamming Rena's father, and if they continued to date, it would drive Rena to insanity. It was possible that Rina would be abusive to Rena or even try to take her life. Meanwhile, Teppei would probably move back to the Houjou home soon, and even if he didn't demand for Satoko to live with him, Satoko would volunteer to do it anyway. It would be her idea of atonement for depending too heavily on her brother.

"But Satoko won't be able to handle the way her uncle will abuse her," Rika explained. "She will become mentally unstable. That, in turn, will drive Keiichi to murder Houjou Teppei next month on the night of Watanagashi."

It was impossible not to feel some level of doubt, no matter how much Shion trusted Rika. "These terrible things you predict," she said. "They're all futures that Oyashiro showed you, right? I don't suppose you really have a way to prove it? That these things will actually happen? That you really can hear the voice of an ancient deity."

Rika shook head, her expression regretful. "I have no proof. All I can do is tell you earnestly that I have seen these futures again and again. I hate them and fear them. I want to fight the fate that leads to these roads of carnage. The closest thing to proof I have is this information. I will tell you of a future I saw which we only narrowly avoided."

Rika began, "You used a Taser on your grandmother and the high voltage killed her. You whipped and burned her dead body. You hung Kimiyoshi by the neck in the underground torture chamber, killing him slowly. You tied Satoko to a cross and took your time slaughtering her, stabbing her over twelve times. You threw Mion in a cell and starved her. After breaking her mind, you threw your sister into the underground well, where she perished. Be honest with yourself, Shion. Don't these actions sound like exactly like what you wanted to do, while you were strapped down and sedated in the Irie Clinic?"

As she listened, Shion started feeling sick. She felt like vomiting, and tried to hold it in. She didn't touch her tea or the rice cakes she had brought out. "Yes," she said to Rika in a shaky voice barely above a whisper. "That's exactly the kind of thing I wanted to do, back then. And… I feel… I feel as if I… as if I really have done those things before. My god." Shion's world shook as faint memories came back to her. "Is this real? What… what have I done?"

"I'm sorry," said Rika genuinely, putting her arms around Shion as the teenager broke down into sobs and tears. "I shouldn't have given such detail. You're not supposed to be able to remember any of it. It was a different world. It was a different you. You haven't done anything."

In a few minutes, Shion was able to calm down. "I believe you now," she stated. "But… as I am right now… I don't want to become a murderer. How can you ask me to do that?"

"I will do the actual killing." Rika flicked back a strand of her long, sleek hair. "You need only assist me by allowing me access to the tools and facilities your family has available. With Mion in the Jouga hospital, there is no better time than now. We'll use the underground well where, it is said, the Sonozaki family used to dump the bodies of their victims. I'll need your help luring Houjou and Rina underground, and I'll need your help dragging their bodies to the hidden well. But I will be the one to slit their throats."

As disturbing as all this was, it somehow didn't seem foreign to Shion. It was like coming back to a world she knew. Dark and sickening though it was, it was familiar. "Even if I do have to kill them myself," the teenager said, clenching her fists, "it will be better than watching Satoko suffer. I won't let be abused. And I won't let Rena become a murderer—she's the last person to deserve becoming a monster like me. Keiichi too. I don't want him to kill anyone. So, Furude Rika-sama, I offer my services to you. I will help you."

"And will you keep our doings secret?" asked Rika, looking at Shion austerely. "I'm sure you want to tell the others. Since they all have the capacity to commit the same crimes, they might forgive us for ours. But I don't want them to know. Convincing them to believe me will be difficult. Beyond that, as soon as they know my plan, they'll start suggesting other ways to handle the problem."

She added, "There are other ways, of course, but they're too roundabout and too slow. Killing the enemies is the quickest and most effective thing to do. And when it comes to killing, the fewer who know about it, the better; even if your friends really would forgive you. Plus, assuming they forgave us for committing murder, forgiveness is not the same as letting us off the hook. They would try to make us turn ourselves in. They might tell the police about us."

"I don't want to invite them to the same dark world we're in," Shion agreed, thinking of Rena, Satoko, Keiichi, and even her sister. "It will be our secret, Rika. We'd better make our plans now so we can get moving quickly tomorrow. The sooner we end this nightmare, the better."


	12. Chi to Waraigoe (Blood and Laughter)

**12: Chi to Waraigoe (Blood and Laughter)**

The day after Mion's fall down the stairs, Rena and Keiichi decided to go visit her in the hospital. They invited Rika, Shion, and Satoko, but the former two said they had plans and the latter said she had a cold and wanted to stay home. Keiichi met Rena outside his house and together they biked to Okinomiya. From there they got aboard a subway train to head over to the city of Jouga. They grew hungry on the way, but Rena surprised Keiichi by taking out two homemade bento lunches from her backpack.

"This is the best!" Keiichi said with a yelp of joy. "Rena's homemade lunches! Ah, I've dreamed of this day!" He took a bite of fried rice and veggies. "Mmm! So good! And look! You even made the little sausages look like octopuses!"

"That's octopi," chuckled Rena, blushing lightly at the praise.

"No, no, I'm sure it's octopuses," Keiichi insisted. Then he dived into his meal like a wolf tearing at a fresh deer carcass. He ate gustily and noisily and didn't leave a single croquette crumb or rice grain untouched.

"I'm glad you like it," said Rena, giving a somehow menacing smile. "You got lucky, though. I made the two lunches look exactly the same. Only one of them had super extra hot sauce mixed in. You picked the one that was safe."

"Haha," Keiichi laughed, "this is what you get for trying to poison my food! Now you have to eat the super extra hot bento! But really," he said, "the food was amazing." He closed his eyes wistfully, nodded empathically and declared, "A pretty body, a gentle voice, and a good cook! Like I thought, you're the ideal girl, Rena-chan! Well, maybe you're not as developed as Mion and Shion, but your chest is fun-size!"

Rena frowned at him. "Mou, Keiichi-kun, don't talk about girls like they're objects." She was blushing deeper than before. "And don't talk about my body or my chest! Unless you want me to complain about sexual harassment," she added, smiling to let him know she was teasing.

"Sexual harassment," scoffed Keiichi, playing along. "But man, a guy has to be so careful in this day and age! Women take offense so easily! And I was just trying to compliment you! Now a man can't even tell a girl she's pretty. Women have gotten so scary."

"Oh, we've always been scary." Rena's grin was almost evil. "You men sure are slow if you're just realizing it now. Some people say Oyashiro-sama was a female god, and that the three great families were matriarchal originally. We've been ruling Hinamizawa for centuries!" She gave an exaggerated, villainous laugh.

"Kowai, kowai," said Keiichi, pretending to shudder. "And here I thought you were so cute!"

They both laughed. Then Rena finished eating her lunch, making many painful faces in the process, and drinking lots of water, since the food was so spicy.

"You know, Keiichi-kun." Rena decided to tease him again. "Speaking of being cute, you're not bad-looking. I think you'd be perfectly handsome… if you learned how to brush that spiky rat's nest you call your hair."

"Ah, you think you hit me where it hurts, do you?" Keiichi shook his head and waved a finger at her. "Not at all. You're wrong. This so-called rat's nest is awesome. Girls love it. They think I've styled it to look roguish, but it's all natural. In fact, my hair is approximately eighty percent of my sex appeal!"

"Does Keiichi even have any sex appeal, kana? Kana?"

"Sure I do!" Keiichi proceeded to brag (and mostly lie): "I'm a ladies' man. I'm always being complimented by girls. I've been kissed by a girl. I've even been on a date!"

"A date? You?" Rena stood up and put her hands on her hips, shaking her head. "Keiichi, you're a bad boy to tell lies. Admit it. You've never been on a date."

"What do you think I'm doing right now?" It took a second for Keiichi to understand what he had said. He had only thought of it as a good comeback. But now he thought about it seriously, about being alone with Rena. It was an awful lot like a date. Keiichi blushed. "Ah, gomen," he stammered. "I was joking around too much."

"It's ok," Rena said in a voice that revealed her embarrassment. She took her seat again.

There weren't many other people on the train, so the two friends had secured comfortable seats. Since there was no loud crowd, Rena and Keiichi could easily hear each other without raising their voices. However, after they ate, there was a long and rather awkward silence. They knew each other quite well for only having met about two months ago, but sometimes awkwardness still came up.

In this case it was because something was weighing on Rena's mind. Keiichi could tell that was it because, when a woman boarded the train carrying a Japanese Spitz puppy, Rena made no reaction. Normally, she would have tried to pet the puppy and yelled, "I wanna take it home!"

"Come on now, Rena-chan." Keiichi stood up to stretch his legs, holding onto the handle hanging down from the pole for balance. "Why don't you tell me what's eating you? I know there's something up."

"I've been wanting to tell someone," Rena admitted, her voice glum, her usual smile gone. "I don't think anyone would understand, though."

"Even if I don't understand, I'll listen," Keiichi promised, "and I'll take it seriously."

It took a little more convincing, but soon Rena let loose and told Keiichi about how her dad was seeing this suspicious woman, Rina-san, who she heard was a con artist up to no good. The person who told her that was Rika. "Don't get close to that vixen," the shrine maiden had said severely. "She cons adults for money, and she beats children who see through her lies. And she's a two-timer. I've seen her together with Houjou Teppei." For some reason, Rika had been very interested in keeping tabs on Rina-san, even following her around like a stalker.

Rena wondered what she should do about the warning. She trusted Rika at her word because the ten year old supposedly had the ability to see the future, and because the two girls shared a strong belief in Oyashiro-sama. There was no way Rena could sit back and do nothing while her father continued to date this dangerous woman. She started to have dark and angry thoughts. She confessed to Keiichi that she wanted to lure out Rina-san and kill her. If she did it in the junkyard at sunset or after dark, there would probably be no witnesses.

Keiichi did not lie and pretend he wasn't shocked by that confession. He never thought Rena was the kind of person who would think about murder. At the same time, he found himself thinking it wasn't all that strange. There was something familiar about it. Murder didn't sound as heinous as it should. In fact, Keiichi felt like he would be the kind of person to be tempted by the thought if the conditions were right. But he put that out of his head for the time being.

"I'm glad you told me, Rena-chan," the boy said to Rena, giving her a pat on the head. "That must have taken some guts. I don't have the answers, so I can't tell you what to do about Rina-san. But I will do whatever I can to help. Together, we can think of another way, some way that doesn't involve violence. The most important thing is that you told me. You believed in me and did the right thing. I bet you feel a lot better now, huh?"

Rena brushed away a tear and nodded. "Thank you, Keiichi."

Shortly afterward, the express line arrived at the Jouga city stop. Keiichi and Rena got off the train and started walking, following the map's directions to the Jouga Shi Ippanno Byouin (Jouga Shi General Hospital). On the way, they saw a florist's shop. Rena suggested getting flowers for Mion. She had no money on her, so Keiichi bought them instead. Besides, Rena said, Mion might appreciate it more coming from the boy. From there they found the hospital, entered, asked after Mion, and were shown to her room.

It was difficult to see the usually strong, boisterous girl gloomy, injured, and confined to a hospital bed. She wore only a loose, white hospital gown and her hair, in contrast to the usual ponytail, hung down long, looking tangled. Her left arm was in a cast and her right arm was stuck with an IV needle. There was a bandage wrapped around her head along with several on her legs. Mion didn't say much during the visit; she hardly acknowledged her company. This was due the pain medication making her somewhat loopy. She did smile, though, when she saw Keiichi come into the room with a bouquet of carnations, daffodils, violets, and peach blossoms.

Mion knew she must have made some light conversation with Keiichi and Rena, but only minutes after they left, she couldn't remember what they had talked about. She was easily affected by pain medication, which can cause forgetfulness. Mion also didn't really remember what happened to her; she just remembered the terrible feeling of falling, and the awful crack of her arm breaking.

According the doctor, the teenager had some slight memory loss related to her fall. It was due to concussion. That was the extent of the damage to her brain, however. The doctor even said that she might remember the fall later when her mind was more stable. It might not be brain damage. It might be that there was something Mion's mind didn't want to remember. She privately felt that this was true, but said nothing to the doctor. There was definitely something important about the fall that she was forgetting. But whatever it was, Mion got an anxious feeling thinking about it, so she left it alone.

Keiichi had said he would visit again tomorrow. That much Mion remembered, and that much she treasured. She thought of Keiichi as she admired the lovely bouquet of flowers he brought her. Even in her current state, Mion felt her pulse quicken and her face redden when she thought of the boy. In December of last year, when Keiichi visited Hinamizawa with his father, Mion had seen him and immediately thought he was handsome. As school started and she got to know him more, Mion felt her feelings for Keiichi growing. Now she had no doubt. She loved Maebara Keiichi, and inside her was born the hope that he would return her affection.

* * *

It was said that the Sonozaki House had many secret tunnels with many different entrances and outlets, but the only one Shion knew about was the so-called underground torture chamber made of stone, which was adjoined to the dirt-floor prison area, where cells were gated by iron grates. In one of those cells was a hidden opening to a subterranean well.

Shion knew of only two ways to access these areas. One was through a tunnel that opened to Oryou's chambers in the main Sonozaki house. The other entrance tunnel was behind a metal door located in the woods a half mile away from the main house. It was the latter entrance that Shion and Rika used the day after Mion's fall.

That morning, they walked through the woods, struggled to open the heavy metal door, and descended the stairs behind it. Shion stayed strong despite all the bad memories this place brought back to her. As for the doorway leading to Oryou's chambers, Rika and Shion locked it off with chain and padlock, and furthermore, barricaded it with a pair of old wooden chairs. Together, the two girls set up everything for their plan in the stone torture chamber. Then Shion departed to begin her part of the plan.

 _Is this truly necessary_ , Rika asked herself? _It must be. What else can I believe, when I am about to murder people once again? It's too late to back out of it. There were some worlds were Rina and Teppei scammed Mr. Ryuguu but did not end up being killed by Rena. That was because, in those worlds, Rena opened her heart to Mion and confessed her helpless and violent feelings. Because of that confession, her mind healed._

 _In this current world, though, Rena only just showed up. She hasn't had time to develop such a trusting friendship with Mion. Besides, Mion is injured in the hospital. Therefore, I am certain Rena will try to kill Rina Mamiya and Houjou Teppei. I won't make her a murderer. I won't let her go insane. I would rather do the deed myself. Throughout all these worlds I've lived, I have been a coward. Dirtying my hands with killing must the only way to break the cycle._

* * *

"I don't see why I need to go bushwhacking in the goddamn mountains just to see my wretched little niece," complained Houjou Teppei.

He and Shion were walking through the woods on the Sonozaki property, on their way to the tunnel entrance. She had spent the morning trying to find the man, and once she found him, Shion told Teppei that Satoko was locked in a cell in an underground facility used by the Sonozaki family. Satoko had insulted and disrespected Oryou-sama, so they had locked her up. That was the lie Shion told. She said that Oryou agreed to let Satoko go on the condition that her uncle come and pick her up immediately to punish her himself.

Houjou was only half-fooled by the lie. He mainly wanted to see if there was really an underground area used by the Sonozaki family. So he followed Shion readily enough, despite many verbal complaints. Soon Shion and Satoko's uncle reached the metal door and descended the stairs. They walked in silence while the few dim lightbulbs made buzzing noises overhead. Then they came to the wooden door leading to the stone chamber. Shion opened it.

"After you, sir," she said. "It's dark, but if you walk straight ahead a few paces, you'll find a pillar that has the light switches. Go on. I'm right behind you."

The bit about the light switches was a lie, of course. Houjou Teppei stepped into the pitch-black room and took a few blind steps forward. He was just about to turn back and complain that there was no pillar, when Shion crept behind him, jabbed her Taser against the back of his neck, and let the voltage zap him unconscious. Then Rika turned on the actual light switch, located on the wall to the left of the entryway.

The light illuminated a grim scene. Houjou Teppei had fallen face-first onto a plastic tarp spread over the stone floor. Also on the tarp were an assortment of knives, serrated blades, and saws. Rika opened her pocket-knife and knelt on the floor next to Teppei's head. She told her accomplice to go ahead and bring Rina Mamiya down next. With a sick feeling in her gut, Shion obeyed, closing the door behind her. Rika put a stack of old towels under the unconscious man's head and then put her pocket-knife up against his throat.

She meant to kill him immediately, but was surprised to find herself shaking and feeling sick. Everything in her was telling her to stop. Ignoring her better judgment, Rika took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and sliced open Houjou Teppei's neck. Or rather, she tried. Opening her eyes, she realized she shouldn't have closed them. All she had done was cut across his throat, missing the carotid artery (located on the side of the neck deep under the skin and ligaments) that would make him bleed out in under five minutes. The worst part was that the cut had shocked Houjou Teppei back into waking consciousness.

Tears of desperation and self-disgust filled Rika's eyes and spilled down her cheeks. This was horrific. The man before was in pain, but his throat had been cut, so he could not scream. He was so scared he wet his pants, and the smell of his shit also filled the air. All because Rika had done a half-assed job. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she kept repeating as she readied the knife again. This time she stabbed deep into the side of his neck, and dragged the knife through his skin and tissue, opening a huge red wound.

Rika knew she had hit the carotid when blood splashed up at her face. It looked like there was a literal fountain of blood spouting from the revolting ruin of Teppei's neck. Rika ducked and backed away from the red shower, fell to her knees, and promptly threw up. She stayed there on her hands and knees throwing up and weeping for at least a minute. By the time Rika found the courage to return to the tarp, Houjou Teppei was dead. The entire stack of towels under his head had turned crimson, and below them, still more blood pooled on the plastic sheet.

This is just the beginning, Rika thought. Now I have to cut him into several pieces. She would have to do this because otherwise neither she nor Shion would be able to drag Houjou's whole, massive body to the well opening. Rika picked up a saw and grimaced. Here goes nothing.

Rina Mamiya was killed in much the same way. It was midafternoon and she couldn't find Houjou. Shion found Rina and told her that Teppei was paying a visit to the Sonozaki house to make a deal with them. A deal that would involve a lot of money. "He said you should come and be in on it too," Shion lied. Thus Rina followed her to the Sonozaki property. It took some convincing to get her to walk through the woods and agree to go underground; Shion thought the plan might fail. In the end, she came up with the lie that all the dirty deals were done in an underground conference room, and the short-haired woman finally gave in.

Like the man before her, Rina had trouble believing there was really an underground conference room. She followed the Sonozaki girl expecting that there would be no tunnel and that this was just a prank. After the prank, Rina thought, she would just beat the shit out of his cocky Sonozaki brat, and relieve some stress in the process. She was more than a little surprised to see the metal door and to be led down the stairs behind it.

Down there in the underground torture chamber, Rina Mamiya met the same end as her male partner. She refused to go into the dark room, and dodged the first jab of the Taser. This led to a tooth-and-claw, fist-and-nail fight between Rina and Shion. The latter found herself beaten and being strangled by Rina, until Rika emerged from the darkened room and hit the woman over the head with a heavy pipe. Then they used the Taser on her to make sure she was unconscious.

"You did well bringing them both here," Rika told Shion. "The pieces of the man's body are wrapped in towel and plastic. Start carrying them to the well and throw them down." Rika picked up a saw. "I'll have more pieces for you to dump shortly."

Shion had already almost thrown up once from the smell of death and the sight of the bloody packages she had to carry. But now she felt even sicker. "Rika," she said, swallowing hard, "aren't you going to k-kill her? You've got to kill her before you can take apart—"

"She'll be dead in a minute," said the shrine maiden, wood-saw at the ready. "Because I'm starting by removing her head."


	13. Futago no Shimai, Futago no Koi

**13: Futago no Shimai, Futago no Koibito (Twin Sisters, Twin Loves)**

In a dream, Shion wandered through a field of red spider lilies at under a sky of dark grey and purple clouds. Beside her was a little stream, and she was thirsty, so she kneeled down to drink. But when Shion cupped the cold liquid in one hand, she found that it was a dark crimson color and thicker than water. Blood. She realized at the same time that there was a scythe in her other hand. Behind her, the heads of the red spider lilies had been cut off, and she heard the voices of the dead flowers sounding like a mixture of wind and distant wailing.

"No," said Shion, dropping the scythe, wiping the blood off her hand, and starting to weep. "This is not what I want. I didn't mean to kill them. I'm sorry."

Someone approached Shion slowly but deliberately. He knelt beside her among the sliced up lilies beside the stream of blood. Gently, he put his hand under her chin and raised her head up. It was Satoshi. "Shion," he said simply.

"Oh, Satoshi!" Shion exclaimed, throwing herself at him, wrapping her arms around him, and showering his face with kisses. "Where are you?" she asked him, while tears flowed down from her blue-green eyes. "I look for you in my dreams every night, but you're never there. What happened to you? Are you alive somewhere, in real life? Did you really run away?"

Satoshi pulled away from Shion and stood up. It was becoming more difficult to see him; his figure was a blur. He must have had a serious expression though, because his voice was stern—almost bleak—when he spoke. "Shion, you have forgotten about me."

"What?" the girl demanded, wiping away tears. "Of course I haven't! I could never!"

"Then why can't you see me clearly anymore?" Satoshi asked in an accusing voice. "Look at me again. Look at me closely. And tell me what you see."

Hearing Satoshi speak to her so harshly was painful, but Shion obeyed him. She tried her best to see him through the blurriness, squinting her eyes. The picture began to clear up. When it did, it was no longer Satoshi standing there above her. It was a boy with a similar body type, a similar smile, and hair exactly like Satoshi's except in color. It was dark brown instead of gold. And his eyes—they weren't the golden-bronze Shion expected, but rather, a dark shade of grey tinged with blue. Suddenly, she realized the identity of the young man before her.

"Keiichi," she said in a tremulous voice. When she realized what it meant, everything inside of Shion rebelled. "No," she snapped, covering her eyes. "No, no, no! I haven't forgotten you, Satoshi! You haven't been replaced! I don't like Keiichi! I don't feel that way about him at all!"

"Are you sure?" the boy questioned, but this time the voice belonged to Keiichi, and it was inviting. He gave Shion a hand, helped her to her feet, and pulled her into an embrace. "You really feel nothing for me? That hurts, Shion. Don't you know? I love you."

He tried to kiss her, but Shion broke away. "No!" she screamed. "Satoshi, come back! This isn't what I want! This can't be!" She fell on her hands and knees, sobbing loudly, and pounding the ground with her fists in anger. And why was she angry? Because part of her really did fancy Keiichi, and didn't want to reject him even in a dream. "No, no, no!" she insisted.

Shion woke herself up shouting "No!" She was immediately embarrassed by the dream as the memory came back to her. Feelings of sorrow followed those of shame; she missed Satoshi desperately. And after the sorrow came exasperation—anger at herself. Because the dream was true. Shion really did feel physically attracted to Keiichi. Why must she have these feelings? She never asked for them. For the rest of the night, Shion tossed and turned, unable to sleep, and weeping softly.

* * *

Her third day in the hospital, Mion arranged things with the doctors so that she would not have any pain medication active in her system during the anticipated visit with Keiichi. The pain in her arm—and all over her body really—was certainly undesirable, but the Sonozaki girl put up with it. As she waited for Keiichi and company, Mion began to think back to the time when she fell. What was it she wanted to do at the Furude shrine that day? She was told that she met up with Satoko and Shion there, but she could remember no such meeting. It was all a blur.

The feeling of uneasiness caused by her clouded memory was quickly forgotten when Keiichi appeared in the doorway of the hospital room. To Mion's surprise, the boy was alone. He seemed quite conscious of the fact, scratching the back of his head awkwardly, and shuffling his feet.

"Hey, Mion," he greeted her. "Ano, you see… today's a school day. We all wanted to see you, but we couldn't just all skip school, so…. The other members of the club selected me as the representative. Sorry if that's a disappointment."

Shaking her head and smiling, Mion responded, "You could never be a disappointment, Keiichi." The line was so cliché and overly affectionate that Mion blushed as soon as she said it. The words seemed to come out on their own without any thought on her part. "Ah, I totally get it—" she spoke rapidly to cover herself—"it's a school day, like you said. I guess it can't be helped. You'll just have to tell everyone I said hello. Thank you for coming, regardless."

"Of course, of course." Keiichi's nods and grins always seemed exaggerated, yet not insincere. "It must be lonely being here by yourself all day, so this is the least I could do. Hey, do you know how long until you can go home?"

"I think the doctor said about a week," Mion replied with a doleful dip in her tone. "If my legs feel better sooner though, I get to go home early. With all the sprains and bruises, it's really difficult to walk at all right now. And my arm, it'll be in this cast way longer than a week. For the rest of the summer, definitely. It was a bad break."

"Yeah, that was really one unlucky fall," Keiichi said sympathetically. Then he laughed, "I never knew you to be a klutz, Mion, but I guess everyone has their days! Haha!"

"I don't really remember when I fell," Mion confessed, her voice low. "It kind of bothers me. I hope my memory gets back to normal soon."

"I'm sure it will." Taking a seat in the chair beside the hospital bed, Keiichi opened his satchel and retrieved from it five paper envelopes. "Here, these cards are from everybody in the club."

"Aw, that was really nice of you all." Mion looked opened the envelopes and looked at the cards inside one by one.

The two from Satoko and Rika were matching purple stationary cards decorated with illustrations of violets. Both young girls had written "Karada o Odaijini" and signed their names, but Rika's contained an additional message. "Mii-chan, if you remember something upsetting, do your best to bear with it. The situation is under control. It won't happen again. Try to forgive your sister." Shion had no idea what that could mean, so she ignored it for the time being.

Rena's envelope contained a letter written in beautiful handwriting probably done with an ink brush. The letter expressed Rena's wishes for Mion's recovery and her desire to have an honest friendship where they could both feel safe sharing their secrets. The letter then went into some detail about Rena's situation with her father's girlfriend and her experiences with what she thought was Oyashiro's curse. Mion was interested in every bit of it and decided she would write a letter in return as soon as possible.

The cards from Shion and Keiichi were simple, made of folded cardstock, and contained the usual well-wishes. Shion's was polite but so brief and undecorated that it was clear she hadn't put any time or care into the affair. Even though there was nothing special written by Keiichi, Mion decided to treasure his card anyway; if nothing else, it contained the characters of his name written in his own hand. That was special enough.

Mion thought she had finished reading everything when she noticed a piece of notebook paper (folded over many times so that it looked like a tiny square) taped to the inside of Satoko's violet card. Wondering what else Satoko could have to say, the Sonozaki girl unfolded the note and proceeded to read. There was more text than she expected. Eyes closed and hands locked behind his head in a casual pose, Keiichi waited patiently in the chair next to the bed.

"To Sonozaki Mion-san," the letter began. "From Houjou Satoko. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Some of the repeated words were smeared with clear moisture, as if perhaps from tears. "You must have heard what I did to my parents. When I think of anybody knowing about that, I get so scared I can't stop shaking. I don't know what I'm doing. My body moves by itself. That's why I pushed you. I wasn't trying to kill you. Mion-san, please be alright. Please forgive me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

As Mion read Satoko's note, her hands began to shake, her eyes widened, and her breath caught in her chest. For an instant she relived the feeling of falling, the terrible tug of gravity and the helplessness that comes with it. But this time, she remembered that she fell because she was pushed. It all came back to her. Mion had not, in fact, heard Satoko's confession to Shion about killing her parents, so she felt exorbitantly confused as well as frightened. No, frightened was not the right word. Mion was terrified. She couldn't ever remember feeling so scared.

Thoughts of conspiracies and paranoia raced through her mind like she had never felt before. "Satoko tried to kill me!" "Satoko wants to kill me because I'm a Sonozaki." "Shion still wants to revenge on me!" "Shion and Satoko plotted together to kill me!" "Keiichi delivered the message, so he might be in on the plot too." "Everyone is working against me and these cards are just their attempts to cover it up." "I'm going to be killed." "I'm going to die." "If I go home, Satoko will kill me." "If I run away, Shion will come after me." "Someone will come to kill me while I can't move in this hospital bed." "Someone's going to kill me." "I am going to die."

The sudden onslaught of terror was so overwhelming Mion felt like weeping, yelling, and vomiting all at once. Before she could do any of that, however, Keiichi noticed how she was trembling and how pale she had become. He snatched the letter away from her and set it down on the bedside table. Then he sat down on the corner of the bed and looked at Mion seriously and full of concern.

"What's wrong?" he questioned. "Was there something in the letter that upset you? Did you remember something about how you got hurt? Please, talk to me. You look like you're going to explode if you don't talk to someone."

Hearing Keiichi's voice and seeing his earnest, dark blue-grey eyes calmed Mion down significantly. She came to her senses, wondering why she had been trapped in that short but powerful spell of panic. But could she trust Keiichi? Would he believe her about what was going on? Mion bit her lip, trying to think of a reply.

"It's nothing," she lied after a moment. "I did remember something, yes. But it's nothing to be worried about. I just need to think for a minute."

Her mind started working a little more clearly putting the pieces together. Mion remembered that Satoko's parents had fallen from a cliff to their deaths; she put two and two together and figured Satoko must have pushed them. That was why the little girl had also pushed Mion, but she had written to apologize, and claimed it was an accident. The Sonozaki girl wanted to believe that, but she couldn't help thinking that perhaps it was a planned event rather than an accident. It could have been an attempt on her life planned by Shion. Why else did Rika's message say to forgive her sister?

If she had indeed plotted with Satoko to her Mion, it meant that Shion was still sick with whatever disease of the mind that Rika claimed she had. However, also in Rika's message was the reassurance that, "The situation is under control. It won't happen again." Out of all her friends, Mion had known Rika the longest, so for the time being, she decided to try to believe in the shrine maiden's words. There was nothing to worry about now. Shion and Satoko had done a terrible thing, but it would not happen again. After Satoko had written such a desperate apology, Mion truly desired to forgive her with her whole heart.

"You're sure you're alright?" Keiichi asked again. "Mion, I want you to be able to be able to trust me. And I want to be able to fully trust you. This… this is going to sound like kind of weird, but…" The boy took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said quickly, "I feel like we've known each other for a lot longer than two months. In my head, there are faint things like memories of time spent together. It's the same with everyone in the club. I usually don't believe in anything supernatural, but maybe we all knew each other in a past life." He laughed at himself. "That's pretty stupid, right? What am I saying?"

Without knowing where her boldness came from, Mion reached out and placed her hand over Keiichi's. "It's not stupid," she said. "Now that you mention it, I feel the same way sometimes. I don't know if it's about past lives or not. But I think it means we're all meant to be friends. I'm trying really hard to believe in my friends right now. In Rika. In Satoko. In my sister. Keiichi, I want you to know that I believe in you most of all."

Of course, the boy acted like this statement did not affect him, but color had risen to his cheeks. "Haha, well, it's good to hear that. I believe in you too, Mion. But, um…" Keiichi trailed off, and it took him a moment of fidgeting and scratching his chin before he found his words again. "Ano, there is something on my mind about you—well about your family—that sort of bothers me. I really don't want to have to say it. But I will, to clear the air.

"You see," the boy explained, "I met Tomitake-san a few days ago, and he told me about the series of mysterious deaths that happen every year around Watanagashi. I was wondering... why didn't you or anyone else tell me about that? And… Detective Ooishi talked to me yesterday. He's probably just a suspicious old fart, but… he said that there are rumors… and circumstantial evidence… that you… well…that your family—"

"That the Sonozaki family is responsible for the mysterious deaths," Mion finished for him. Her tone was stiffer than she had intended. She knew this would come up eventually, but she hated to be suspected of evil by the boy she liked. "It's true that my family looks guilty. But I don't believe the Sonozaki Group was involved in any of the deaths: the dam foreman, Satoko's parents, Rika's parents, Satoko's aunt, and Satoshi. We didn't arrange for any of them to die.

"I'm just as scared by the weird deaths as you are," continued Mion, her voice becoming gentle again. She enjoyed the feeling of holding Keiichi's hand, glad that he hadn't pulled away yet. "And I'm sorry no one told you about the incidents before, Kei-chan. It's not like we were purposely trying to hide it. It's just difficult for us to talk about. Especially for Satoko and Shion. They both loved Satoshi so much, and he was never found."

"If you say you say you and your family weren't involved, then I believe you." Keiichi gave her hand a quick squeeze before pulling it away and standing up. He paced back and forth thoughtfully for a moment. "What do you think causes the deaths, Mion? If not the Sonozaki Group, then who? Wouldn't it have to be a pretty complex organization to pull it off? But what kind of organization would want to kill enemies of the Sonozaki house?"

"Maybe a radical group trying to bring back Hinamizawa's ancient traditions," suggested Mion. "A radical religious organization that wants the Three Great Families to return to ruling the village with tyranny and violence. That's probably the most logical conclusion. But no evidence of such an organization exists. As for what I think, well… I don't know if you can take it seriously."

"I will," Keiichi said, hitting his chest with his fist in some kind of mock-salute of solidarity. "No matter what, I won't laugh, or treat you differently based on what you believe."

To herself, Mion thought that Keiichi really was the ideal friend. Caring, protective, trusting, and accepting. Did he even have any faults? "In this day and age," the girl said aloud, "people are discovering that they don't need to be tied down by old religions. And they don't need to believe in gods, because science can explain things. You're one of those very rational people, Keiichi. But as for me, for a long time now, I've believed in Oyashiro-sama. He—or she—really exists.

"At first," Mion went on, "I only convinced myself to believe because it was Sonozaki tradition. But as the mysterious deaths kept happening, I started to think that it they happened because of Oyashiro's judgment. The dam foreman was one of the ones who wanted to flood Hinamizawa and make all the villagers relocate to cities. Satoko's parents were proponents of the dam. Rika's parents sheltered Satoko's family during the dam war, thus aligning themselves with the wrong side."

"Why would Oyashiro-sama be so harsh to those advocating the dam?" Keiichi asked. "He or she doesn't sound like a very benevolent god."

"It's not really about the dam. It's because of the commandments Oyashiro-sama gave in the ancient days. 'Let no one in and no one out.' Outsiders should not be allowed into the village. People raised in the village should not be allowed to leave and live outside the village. Because the dam would mean the relocation of everyone in Hinamizawa, Oyashiro-sama had to condemn it. He or she condemns those who try to leave the village. Satoshi tried at least once to run away from Hinamizawa, and his aunt spent a few years away before agreeing to take care of the Houjou kids. That's why they were targets of the curse. Oyashiro-sama's curse."

"But still," Keiichi said uncomfortably, "why is that ancient commandment so important? Why kill people over it? Also, if you worship Oyashiro-sama, doesn't that mean you have to reject me, since I'm an outsider who came into the village?"

"You're an exception." Mion smiled at him. "I prayed to Oyashiro-sama to let you live here, and so far, you have not been subject to divine judgement. Also, you have the blessing of the Sonozaki family. My grandmother, who hated outsiders for so long, said that she would welcome you and your family, because newcomers can be like fresh air to the stuffy village."

"Well, I'm happy to hear that you prayed on my behalf." Keiichi inclined his head in thanks. "Whether I believe it had an effect or not, it's the thought that counts to me."

"I'm glad. And as for why the old commandment is so important…" Mion gave a small sigh and shrugged. "I'm afraid I don't know the answer. For whatever reason, that rule is important enough to curse people who break it. I hope that I understand why, some day. For now, all I can do is believe in Oyashiro-sama."

Keiichi had stopped pacing, and there was a furrow of worry on his brow above his nose.

"But Mion," he said with sudden apprehension, "you were raised in Hinamizawa, and now you're all the way in Jouga city. Doesn't that mean you could be cursed?"

With her mind so addled by pain medication the last two days, Mion had not thought of that. The realization filled her with dread. A sick feeling stirred in her stomach. But she shook it off, and gave one of her hearty laughs. "What are you talking about? I'm the next heir to the Sonozaki House. I'm too important for Oyashiro-sama to kill off. And I'm a devout believer, so I'm sure I'll be forgiven for staying away for a week or so. It's not like I ran away, or wanted to leave. Coming to this hospital was an unavoidable consequence of injury. That's all."

When she finished speaking, Mion yawned and realized how tired she was. Her head, legs, and arm ached as well. She had talked long enough and was more than ready for dose of pain medication. Keiichi quickly picked up on the fact that visiting time was over. Leaving the cards on the bedside table, the boy exchanged farewells with Mion, promising that he or someone else from the club would visit soon. Just as he was leaving the room, though, Keiichi heard Mion call his name one more time in a quiet, embarrassed voice. Her face was bright red.

"May I… may I have a goodbye kiss?" Mion asked breathlessly. "Maybe it will make me better faster."

Though unusual, this was hardly a confession of love, so Keiichi didn't treat it as one. He didn't realize that Mion really, truly fancied him; he thought this was just her flirting and being a tease. She probably didn't expect him to actually do it. It was a dare. That's how Keiichi thought of anyway, so he gave Mion a quick kiss on the forehead. To him, it wasn't serious. For the girl, though, the small gesture of affection meant the world. Mion was head-over-heels for Keiichi. She wanted to be like Shion and declare her love loudly.

But all she could manage was, "See you soon, Keiichi. Take care."

"Same to you, Mion," the boy smiled at her.


	14. Mottainai, Amarini mo Warui

**14: Mottainai, Amarini mo Warui (Too Good, Too Evil)**

The next day, Sonozaki Akane, Sonozaki Oryou, and old man Kimiyoshi came to visit Mion in the hospital. It was a tiresome visit. All three of them talked about village council issues, and urged the girl to get well as quickly as possible so she could come back and assist them. As if she could make her injuries better by just willing the healing to hurry, Mion thought. Kimiyoshi and Oryou were both pretty old, leaving Akane to do most of the work of leading the town, and she put pressure on her daughter to help her.

Mion should have been used to it. She had been held to high expectations and pressured this way as long as she could remember. However, given her injuries, she had expected her family to let her have a break. They didn't, and even if they had, their conversation would still have been boring to Mion. Her mind was full if thoughts of Keiichi. She couldn't care less about her mother's fretting over the funding of the Watanagashi festivities, or Kimiyoshi's argument with the police over property lines, or Oryou's news of her declining health. None of it mattered.

Before the family left that day, Akane informed Mion—as if it were an afterthought—that she was going to be transferred to the Irie Clinic in Hinamizawa the following day. The girl had only been sent to Jouga to have brain scans done to ensure there were no complications from her head injury. With those scans done, the rest of her recovery time could be in any hospital. The Sonozaki family had such influence in the district that Oryou need only hint to the doctors to get them to approve of a transfer right away.

Without really even knowing why at first, Mion protested. She didn't want to be moved, not yet. When she told her family she didn't feel well enough to be transferred yet, they agreed to let her have her way and remain in Jouga a little longer. It was only later that Mion realized she was being childish and enjoying making people come a long way to see her. She especially wanted to make Keiichi come all the way to see her.

In addition, Mion was dreading returning to Hinamizawa because, even at the clinic, she would be held to a handful of humdrum duties assigned to the Sonozaki heiress. She would furthermore have to deal with seeing Shion again, and Mion wasn't sure she was ready for that. To be honest, she was frightened of her sister. All day, the voices in Mion's mind kept telling her that Shion wanted to kill her. Though she never would have said this out loud, the elder twin wished in her heart that she could stay away from Hinamizawa for as long as possible.

To Mion's annoyance, neither Keiichi nor anybody from the club visited her the next day. Only her mother came. Mion thought she was going to complain about village problems again and try to convince her to transfer to the Irie Clinic. However, it soon became clear that Akane was there on different business. First, she delivered the news that Oryou had been hospitalized at the Irie Clinic for pneumonia, and that she might not live much longer. Then, Akane said she had something to tell Mion—something that Oryou had let slip in delirium.

"Your grandmother Oryou-sama confessed to three great sins," Sonozaki Akane stated. As usual, her hair was tied up in a braided bun and fixed with a long, needle-like pin of dark blue color with flowers painted on it. She wore a silky houmongi kimono of the same deep blue, with a silvery-grey obi. There was always something commanding about her and the way she dressed. "As the heir, it's your right to know the sins of the previous family head," the widow told Mion. "But under no circumstances are you to share these secrets with your sister."

"What's the big deal?" Mion asked, still feeling annoyed, and being a bit disrespectful. "Everybody knows grandma has done some nasty things. Like turning the whole village against the Houjou family. Ugn, whatever. If these confessions are as serious as you're making them seem, then fine, I promise I won't tell Shion. We're not that close right now anyway. Go on."

"Very well." Akane gazed into her daughter's eyes with her face showing gravity, sorrow, and something like regret. "Oryou-sama ordered Tatsuyoshi-san and your father to kidnap the grandson of the district minister, who was lobbying for the construction of the dam. It was blackmail. Once the minister agreed to cancel the dam project, the grandson was released. The boy was unharmed, but the fact remains a child's life was threatened to stop the dam project."

Mion's mother closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she was ready to explain the next part. "A little over a year ago, in early April 1982, Oryou gave a special order to a member of the Sonozaki's yakuza branch. An assassination order. The assassin was supposed to kill your sister Shion. He didn't have the stomach for murdering her, but he raped her instead. Though Shion shot this man, he probably would have recovered if your father hadn't been sent to end make sure his life ended. Oryou ordered it, but your father volunteered for it gladly. He killed the rapist as punishment for stealing the virtue his daughter."

No, thought Mion. There was no way that could be true. Not any of it. She felt sick and the world looked like it was spinning slowly around her. "W-why?" she asked faintly. "Why would grandma tell the yakuza to kill Shion?" Mion knew that Oryou had wanted to strangle Shion at birth according to ancient tradition. But why order an assassination of a sixteen-year-old girl when she had been allowed to live up till then?

"It was at the behest of Furude Rika-sama," answered Akane gravely. "With her divinations, she predicted that Shion would kill her own family, including you, as well as grandpa Kimiyoshi and Rika herself. None of these sins, Mion, are fit for one person to bear alone. The blame lies with your grandmother for giving the order. It also lies with the yakuza agent who defiled Shion. And with your father, who killed the yazuka agent. And with Rika, who convinced Oryou, Kimiyoshi, and Tatsuyoshi that Shion needed to be killed."

It all sounded like a nightmare. It couldn't be real. "…And what was the third sin my grandmother confessed to?" Mion dared to ask. "It can't be any worse than the ones before."

Akane shook her head, and judging by the trembling of her lip and the lines on her wan face, she was trying not to cry. Sonozaki Akane never cried—at least never in public or in front of her daughters. She said in a quaking voice, "Your grandmother ordered the death of Houjou Satoshi. She not only had the idea; she also insisted on it. She told me that it was your father who volunteered to do the deed. He reported to Oryou on Watanagashi that he had shot and killed the boy.

"In the last year or so that I knew your father," Mion's mother added, "he was a different man. Not the man I married. A man ruled by fear, who would kill at any opportunity. Perhaps he felt some guilt, though. He went missing just days after reporting Satoshi's death. As you know, he has never been found since. But I have always believed that he took his own life."

All at once, Mion broke down. She couldn't hold it together anymore. So many thoughts, fears, and emotions flooded her mind. "Why?" she cried out in mental anguish. "Why did you tell me all this, Okaa-sama? Why couldn't you let me stay ignorant?! Why?!" And in a few seconds she was reduced to tears and uncontrollable sobs.

"It's your duty to know." That was the only reasoning her mother could give, and it was poor. Akane was only telling her daughter because she couldn't bear keeping it all secret by herself. Mion knew this and hated her mother for it. She hated her all the more for the excuse of "the duty of the Sonozaki heiress." Her hate mingled with love, though, because now they were in the same boat. And because Akane was actually crying now. When she sat on the bedside and took her daughter into her arms, Mion did not break away. The girl and her mother held each other, and both of them wept freely.

* * *

By that time it was early June 1983, and the weather was warm. Cicadas sounded their repetitive rattling cries in the trees, which swayed slightly in the summer breeze. Birds sang too, beneath the same clear, sunny sky. Since it was a Sunday, school was out, and the children of Hinamizawa enjoyed the warmth and freedom of the outdoors in every way they could imagine. There were hikes, games of tag and hide-and-seek, sword-fights with bamboo sticks, shoot-outs with water guns, tests of courage, and hunts for insects and butterflies. Children played with water hoses, ran through sprinklers, or splashed around in the shallow streams in the woods.

As for Keiichi and company, at first they planned to go all together to Jouga city, only to be informed by Shion that her mother was visiting Mion that day and wished to be alone. Keiichi and the others seemed disheartened by the news, but since Shion didn't really want to see her sister in the first place, she was not saddened in the slightest. She cheered up the other four friends, convincing them all to go for a hike in the woods. Afterward, they would visit Angel Morte to eat ice-cream.

Everyone agreed. Rena brought a net and some jars for catching butterflies. Satoko preferred to hunt for insects and start a collection, and Rika joined her as usual. There was more to do than hike and catch bugs, though. Keiichi declared that he would find a stream for them all to play in. If he found one, then the girls lost the bet, and would have to wear swimsuits as their penalty. If Keiichi did not find the stream, he would lose the bet, and have to pay for everybody's food that day no matter how much they wanted.

In the end, the five friends did finally find a stream, surrounded by large rocks and boulders on both banks. The slow-flowing creek was about five feet wide and three feet deep at most, though only a foot or so deep in most places. While the group couldn't really swim there, they could still cool off by splashing around in the water, and enjoy lying in the sun atop the large, smooth boulders.

Keiichi felt extremely awkward as the girls removed their outer clothing- most were wearing blouses and skirts, or else one-piece summer dresses- to reveal their swimsuits underneath. Being the only boy present made Keiichi more than a little uncomfortable. And though he joked about wanting to gawk at their bodies, he actually found himself wondering if it was a good idea to look at his friends in minimal clothing.

For one thing, he might accidentally stare too much and get slapped or punched. For another, he would never be able to un-see what he saw today, and he worried that this would change their existing friendships. There was also the worst-case scenario to think about. Keiichi might embarrass himself by getting hard. He blushed and distracted himself with removing his grey vest and red shirt. The shorts he wore would do fine as swim trunks.

When he finished undressing and turned around, all the girls were already in their swimwear and rushing into the shallow water. It was rather uncommon for teenage or adult women to wear two-piece swimsuits in Japan in the 1980s, but for children who had nothing to be shy about, simplicity was given priority over modesty. Thus Satoko's swimwear consisted of a bottom piece similar to high-rise panties, and a strapless piece around her as-yet flat chest. Both pieces were a pale yellow color.

Rika's attire was basically the same as Satoko's, except that the piece covering her chest had thin straps and was more fitted to her chest to give support to any small buds of breast that might be starting to grow. The simple swimsuit was purple-colored with patterning of blue and white flowers. Of the two young girls, Rika was fairer- and softer- skinned. Satoko looked more tanned and even a little toned. She had always been a bit athletic.

Rena's suit was a skin-tight single piece, white with horizontal, pastel-pink stripes and purple ruffles on all the edges and seams. For a girl in that time, it was a bold getup, with a very low v-cut neckline. A large portion of her back was bare where the shoulder straps came all the way down to meet with the panty-like fabric covering her buttocks.

Being only just fifteen, Rena still had a lot of growing to do. Nevertheless, it was already obvious that she would grow up to have a beautiful body. Her hip to waist ratio was nearly ideal. Her skin seemed to glow with the near-flawlessness of youth. She would probably always be petite and her chest would never compare in size to those of taller or bigger-boned women. All that meant was that she was built on a smaller scale, so to speak. She still had a tight waist, nicely curved hips, and a cute bottom. To a boy of sixteen, she looked like a perfect princess.

Compared to Rena, Shion was much more comfortable with and confident about her own body, going so far as to purchase a blue-green bikini whose color brought out her eyes. It was a 1980s styled bikini, which meant it covered more of Shion's breasts and rear than modern bikinis would. Even still, it was a bikini, and Keiichi almost gasped aloud at the scandalous amount of skin showing.

In all honesty, Shion could have made a living as a model. She was only seventeen but already looked as mature as a woman two or three years older. Compared to Rena, she was much taller, and had a wider torso. And of course, her breasts were criminally large and shapely. She didn't have the same hour-glass figure as Rena; her hips were a little wider and her torso more elongated. Regardless, to Keiichi, Shion was a queenly beauty.

At first, everyone felt a little awkward, even Shion. As the five friends continued to play and laugh, though, their uncertainty and discomfort evaporated in the summer heat. When his life had been such a nightmarish mess just last fall, Keiichi felt that days like this were almost too good to be true. He realized how much he depended on each of these girls for companionship, entertainment, and emotional support. No matter what, Keiichi didn't want to take his friendships for granted. He felt like doing something nice for the girls. So, even though he had won the bet about finding a stream to play in, Keiichi paid for everyone to have ice-cream at Angel Morte.

Rika hardly touched her sherbet ice-cream as she and her companions sat at a six-person booth in the cool, air-conditioned cafe. She looked around at her friends all joking, teasing, smiling, and laughing at and with each other. Like Keiichi, Rika also thought this was too good to be true. Shion had stabilized quickly after her brief bout of voluntary insanity in helping Rika kill their enemies. Satoko seemed fine. Rena was happy, since her father couldn't get in contact with Rina and assumed he had been dumped. Nothing seemed unstable about Keiichi, either.

So Rika's thoughts turned to Mion. She might be the last piece of this world line's puzzle. What would happen when the Sonozaki girl returned? Would she be mentally stable? There was a chance she would contract Hinamizawa Syndrome because of leaving the village and staying in Jouga for a week. However, as long as she came back soon, and nothing else traumatizing happened when she returned, Mion's sickness should correct itself on its own. With the exception of Shion, most people of the Sonozaki family were resilient to the parasite, and showed quick recovery as soon as they rejoined the company of the Queen carrier.

No, there was no need to harbor concern about Mion. She had never been anywhere near as violent as Shion in the past world lines. _I'm fretting for nothing_ , thought Rika. And she proceeded to enjoy her orange sherbet ice-cream.

* * *

Later that day, Keiichi tried for a short while to study, but found himself too distracted. Instead, he decided to take the evening to relax. He watched some television and read some manga. Meanwhile, his parents prepared to leave to take a three-day vacation together. Before leaving, Mrs. Maebara made a delicious dinner of chicken yakisoba with the meat, noodles, cabbage, and other vegetables cooked and tossed together in a spicy sauce. The Maebara parents took their leave soon after dinner, and Keiichi decided to go take a nice, hot bath.

Hinamizawa was a quiet town, and houses were well spaced out so neighbors would have less chance of hearing each other during the still, peaceful nights. That's why, from all the way upstairs in the bathroom tub, Keiichi could still hear the sound of someone knocking on the front door. It was probably his parents, having forgotten something and locked themselves out; it wouldn't be the first time they forgot their bus tickets or left their keys on the hutch by the entryway. Keiichi wrapped a towel around his waist, hurried downstairs, and opened the door.

To his surprise, the person in front of him was not either of his parents, but Ryuguu Rena. It was difficult to say which of the two was more embarrassed. Keiichi wasn't particularly tall, nor was he buff. But he also wasn't totally undeveloped. Rena's wide eyes looked from his bare, handsome chest, to his moderately muscled arms, and down to the white bath towel that covered his decently sized manhood. Diverting her eyes with some effort, Rena started muttering an apology, and the bright red Keiichi slammed the door shut again with a yelp like a wounded animal.

He dashed back up the stairs, letting the towel fall off of him, and threw on a white shirt and some khaki shorts. Then he raced back down the steps, opened the door, and said, "I'm really sorry about that, Rena-chan! I thought you were my parents! I would never have… well… anyway…" He scratched at his hair like he often did when he was flustered or feeling awkward. "Anyway, what is it? Did you forget to tell me something?"

"Oh—well," stammered Rena, feeling equally uneasy and gently swaying the box she held back and forth. "I, um, forgot to give you something." She held out the small box, about the size of a bento. "It's onigiri," Rena stated. "I've never made it before, but Mion gave me the recipe before her accident. I decided to try making them this evening and I think they turned out ok."

Accepting the box of sweet treats, Keiichi smiled, and his embarrassment faded. "Arigato, Rena-chan," he told her, and according to his habit, he patted the top of her head. "Why don't we eat them together? There's some cold barley tea in the fridge. Oh—" Keiichi looked behind him at the clock on the wall. "It's this late already? Sorry, I guess you probably need to hurry and get home."

For a minute, Rena hesitated. Then she took a deep breath, stepped inside, and declared, "I don't mind staying for a bit. I'll make us all some fresh, hot tea, if that's alright." Rena headed toward the kitchen.

Keiichi shut the front door and followed his friend into the kitchen. "All of us?" he asked. "Oh, you must have meant both of us and my parents. Well, they're away on vacation right now."

Rena almost dropped the kettle as she put it on the stove to let the water warm up. "Y-your parents are gone?!" she exclaimed, embarrassed all over again, and a little angry. "You should have said so right away, Keiichi-kun! What are you thinking, inviting me in when you're all alone?"

"I—I'm sorry." Of course, it made sense. It was improper for high-school-aged boys and girls to be alone together in a house at night. But that hadn't ever occurred to Keiichi before. After all, he had never had any female friends close to his age. "I didn't mean to be inappropriate, Rena, I swear. You can leave right away if you want."

Hearing the apology, Rena accepted that the boy hadn't meant any harm. She teased him a little though. "Kei-chan might have been planning something dirty, kana? Kana?"

Ignoring her, Keiichi opened the food box and brought it out onto the low bamboo table in the dining room. In a minute, Rena joined him carrying the teapot and cups and two cloth napkins. Together they enjoyed a few pieces of the dark and delicious onigiri. It tasted amazing to Keiichi, but maybe he was biased because it had been homemade by Rena. Speaking of whom, the girl was rather quiet that evening. Keiichi got the idea that she wanted to say something but was having trouble. He decided not to press the issue for tonight. After drinking their warm green tea and enjoying the sweet rice dessert, the two friends parted ways.

On her way home, Rena thought, "That lump-head Keiichi! I wonder if he'll even notice the letter attached to the box. He can be so thick sometimes." Thinking about it, the teenage girl felt her heart pound a little faster. Keiichi was sure to find it: the letter with the confession of her enormous crush on him.


	15. Kigane (Uncertainty)

**15: Kigane (Uncertainty)**

For the next three days or so, everyone from the club was too busy with school to come visit Mion, or they had used up their allowances already and couldn't afford train tickets. Keiichi called the hospital phone and let Mion know that he would visit again as soon as possible, but it might take a few days. It was wonderful to hear Keiichi's voice. However, the light and lofty things Mion felt when she heard his voice only lasted a few minutes. Soon she was lonely and restless again, and her mind raced with dark thoughts.

Though her injuries were healing excellently, Mion felt worse by the day as far as emotional and mental health were concerned. It started with dreams. Repeatedly, Mion relived the experience of being pushed off the steps and landing with enough force to snap her arm and nearly crack her head. She saw Satoko looking down at her with an expression that clearly said, "You need to die."

There were other disturbing dreams too. She would see herself lashing Shion with the weighty snake whip, but then their positions reversed, and Mion was the one screaming as she was belted. "I'll never forgive you," the younger twin kept saying. "And neither will Oyahsiro." Speaking of which, Mion also saw in her dreams a tall, dark figure that looked like the statue of Oyashiro-sama in the forbidden tool shed. The figure drew ever closer to the girl saying, "Return, return, return!"

This vision of a nightmarish Oyashiro-sama scared Mion so badly that she would start to repeat, "Gomenasai, gomenasai," over and over as fast as she could. That's how she would wake up, to the sound of her own imploring voice. Other times, it seemed like someone else was the one saying "Gomenasai"—Mion could hear the voice in the middle of the night, too vivid to be just a dream. She would see the shadow of someone or something standing over her bed, but when she sat up, nothing was ever there.

"But Mion," Keiichi had said the last time he visited, "you were raised in Hinamizawa, and now you're all the way in Jouga city. Doesn't that mean you could be cursed?"

By night and by day, those words haunted Mion. She had dismissed them so flippantly at first. But Keiichi was right. Mion didn't want to return to Hinamizawa and reunite with her family—she wanted to stay as far away as possible. Because of that, she was beginning to feel the curse of Oyashiro-sama.

How could she think otherwise, though? How could she want to go home thinking with unfounded certainty that her sister and Satoko wanted her dead? Mion's father was guilty of murdering Satoshi, and was probably dead himself instead of just missing. Mion's family had tried to assassinate Shion, and the Sonozaki assassin ended up raping her. Mion's grandmother was a liar, a kidnapper, and a co-conspirator to murder. Mion's once-trusted friend Rika was involved in all these dark sins of the Sonozaki House. Thinking about this, it was no wonder that the poor girl didn't want to return to the village.

Because of the nightmares and the voices at night, Mion gave up trying to sleep. That only made things worse for her mental state. She began to feel that someone was watching her—all day, every day, and at night too. It wasn't just a faint sense; Mion felt absolutely sure of it. She kept thinking of plots that Shion and Satoko might have in store, and she wondered if the hospital staff was their side.

Mion's grandmother or even her mother might be conspiring to kill her, too. After all, they had tried to kill Shion in the past. The Sonozaki House was respected at the Jouga Hospital; pretty much anywhere in the district, Mion's evil grandmother had power and influence. Just thinking about it made Mion start biting her nails frantically. Going home sounded frightening, but it would be the same anywhere in reach of the Sonozaki's power. The hospital staff might be drugging her, or lying to her, or planning to kill her. Which was worse: returning home or staying here? Mion didn't know. And she didn't know how much longer she could hold out.

* * *

It didn't take Keiichi very long to find the envelope taped to the bottom of the bento box in which Rena had placed the homemade onigiri. He found it when he got ready to wash the box. The handwriting on the letter inside was definitely Rena's; Keiichi recognized it after seeing her write her letter to Mion last week. Though brief and simple, the message inside the envelope was clearly a love letter. Rena wrote the following.

 _Dear Keiichi,_

 _The last two months have been like a dream for me. A dream I never wish to wake from. My life in the city was a disaster, my mind was in shambles, and I had given up hope. I never dreamed that if I returned to Hinamizawa, I could live out such fun and fulfilling days with you and everyone else in the club. Sometimes it seems like all we do in our club activities is fool around. But I want you to take this letter seriously._

 _Maebara Keiichi, I've started to fall in love with you. I liked you right away, from the start, but I was too shy to speak up. I also didn't think it was my place, since I figured you were together with Mion or Shion. As time passed, though, I realized that you don't seem seriously committed to either of them. That makes you fair game for me, so to speak. The other day, when I told you about my family situation and my evil thoughts about my dad's girlfriend, I opened my heart to you. And you accepted me, even though my mind was so full of darkness._

 _That's when I decided I was going to tell you, Keiichi. That I love you. And that I want you to return my feelings. I'm sorry I had to say this in a letter and not to your face. However, we will meet face-to-face tomorrow. Come to the usual place where we meet to ride to school, but come a little early so you and I have time to talk before Shion, Satoko, and Rika join us. Tomorrow morning, I want to hear your answer. I want to know whether you love me, too, and if so, where you want to go from here._

 _Affectionately,_

 _Ryuugu Rena_

At first Keiichi was just surprised, but shortly afterward, he began to feel confused. Did he or did he not like Rena? She was as smart as he was or smarter, undeniably cute, and in terms of body, she was more Keiichi's type than Mion or Shion. What did it mean to like someone? Certainly Keiichi wanted to spend time with Rena. He enjoyed being with her in a group as well as the brief times they met one-on-one. Going on dates with her and buying nice things for her didn't sound bad at all, but Keiichi had simply never considered that before.

Was that the extent of his feelings, he wondered? Liking a girl was also about liking her body, wanting to share his with hers, and wanting them to enjoy things together like kissing, embracing, and touching. Keiichi's thoughts made him blush even though he was alone. There was no denying he wanted to do those sorts of things with Rena. Imagining it gave him a hard-on. But again, he had never considered that before now. Didn't that prove that he didn't really love Rena? If he did, he would have thought of these things, and noticed these feelings, sooner.

"Mou! Taku," Keiichi grumbled, pacing back and forth in his kitchen and feeling frustrated. Why did this have to happen now? Why did Rena have to make things complicated? Weren't things just fine before? If the two started dating, the club dynamics would change. He couldn't flirt with the twins anymore. It would be awkward to go to Mion's house after school to read and borrow manga. He would have to meet Rena's father and be on his best behavior. It all sounded like a heap of trouble Keiichi didn't want to deal with. On the other hand, the more he thought of doing this and that with Rena, the more conflicted he became.

That night, Keiichi couldn't reach a decision. He went to bed and slept fitfully. The next morning, he decided he would tell Rena that he needed more time to think about what was best, and for now, he wanted the club activities with Shion, Mion, Satoko, and Rika to continue as normal. Naturally, he was scared half to death that Rena would feel rejected and start crying or something. But he couldn't see what other option there was at this point.

Despite all his best efforts to summon up manly courage, Keiichi was actually shaking a little when he faced Rena the next morning. His face was red and sweaty. Standing before him, Rena looked adorable in her little white dress, cap, and purple ribbon. Keiichi tried to say something, but could only stammer and mutter nonsensically, until Rena gave him a gentle smile and poked his nose with the tip of her finger.

"Relax, Keiichi-kun," she told him. "Whatever you say today, it won't change the fact that we're friends. And that we're the smartest competitors in the club, who have a duty to fight each other in games and contests until one or both of us succumb to the shame of the penalty games."

"Thank you, Rena-chan." Just for saying those words, Keiichi thought he loved Rena all the more. That made it difficult to say what needed to be said, though. He was only able to speak at last by imagining the conversation as a test of his courage. "Ryuugu Rena, I'm happy that you feel this way about me," he began. "It's an honor I probably don't deserve. But I can't give you a real answer yet. I don't know if I really love you or not. I think time will show me the answers I need. So I ask for a little more time. And in that time, I want everything the stay the same between you, me, Mion, and the rest.

"I'm sorry to make a selfish request," Keiichi added, "but it's all I can think to do. I'm not rejecting your feelings. But I'm also not sure if I can return them. I will say, though, that I think you're easily the cutest girl in the village. I'm attracted to you. …And since starting high school, you're the first girl I've ever really wanted to kiss." The last sentence came out of his mouth as if by magic. Keiichi hadn't meant to say it aloud. When he realized, his eyes went wide and he started rapidly apologizing in a clumsy, stuttering way. He could feel his face burning.

"Keiichi-kun, you slipped up and said something naughty." Rena's voice was teasing, and she was smiling. "Now you're all embarrassed. Kawaii! I want to take you home!" Without any more warning, the teenage girl closed the distance between them and kissed the boy. It was quick, but their lips had met. Rena danced backward a few steps, giggling and blushing. "There, Keiichi. That's payback. You're being selfish and asking me for more time. That's the same as teasing me romantically. So it's only fair to tease you a little bit back."

In his own ears, Keiichi's heartbeat sounded like a stampede of wild horses. It wasn't possible for him to blush any deeper red. He pretended that he wasn't flustered, that it wasn't his first kiss, that he wasn't enchanted by the feeling of Rena's soft lips and moist mouth, and that he wasn't thinking of grabbing Rena and pulling her into a longer, more passionate kiss. The boy kicked at the dust on the ground with one foot, fidgeting.

"Rena, you clearly need practice," he said haughtily, with a cough to hide the shake in the voice. "That kind of wimpy kiss isn't enough to tease me. That didn't turn me on at all."

"Liar," said Rena, grinning, and moving forward, closer to Keiichi again.

"I'm not lying," Keiichi lied.

"Oh, really? Then maybe you want me to do something more, kana? Kana?" How did Rena make her voice sound so sexy despite her childish speech habits?

"That's not what I meant," Keiichi began, stepping backward. He meant to add, "If you do any more, you're going to make me hard," but thank the gods he didn't say that, because just then he heard the sound of Shion ringing the bells on her bike as she came up the dirt road to meet them.

"Well, well," said Shion, skidding to a stop just a few feet away from her friends. Her ample chest bounced just slightly as she halted, and her skirt had ridden up a bit while she biked, almost allowing a peek at what was underneath. "Good morning Rena, Kei-chan," she greeted them. "Now, what are you to up to? You look like little kids who got caught stealing candy. And you're both about the color of pickled plumbs."

As soon as she realized this, Shion gave a mock-gasp and threw up her hands in fake horror. "You were talking about something naughty, weren't you? Or maybe," she smiled, "you were actually doing something naughty. You ought to be ashamed. Two high schoolers, and in broad daylight! What am I going to do with you?"

Rena and Keiichi responded by saying that Shion had no room to talk, and the good friends bit back and forth at each other for a few minutes before Satoko and Rika arrived. Then all five of them set off for school.

Keiichi thought that he wouldn't be able to think of anything but Rena's kiss all morning, but to his surprise, he found himself missing Mion while everyone rode their bikes beside him. If she were here, Mion would have done something to fire everyone up, like urge them to race the rest of the way to school. Or she would have said something about conning Keiichi into helping her with homework, even though she was a grade above him. The group was incomplete without Mion and her boyish laugh. She had better come home soon.

* * *

On her sixth day in the hospital, Mion was told that she would be discharged tomorrow, like it or not. She also received a phone call from Keiichi saying that he would be visiting after school that day and he was sorry for the long delay. Just as had been the case three days ago, however, hearing Keiichi's voice and imagining his one-on-one attention only soothed Mion for a short time. As the day wore on, she became less and less stable. She glared at the nurses and snapped at the doctor, certain that they were out to get her. Then a wild idea came to her mind.

Cameras. Recording devices were becoming more common and being used in more places in the 1980s. While "camcorders" and most security cameras were large, bulky machines compared to those widely used in the following decades, the idea of small, hidden cameras was not wholly unheard of. Mion became convinced that there cameras in her hospital room. That would explain why she constantly felt watched.

The girl stomped and crashed around the room, throwing things aside, looking in every nook and cranny for the nonexistent cameras. Her breath became ragged, her thundering heartbeat felt somehow irregular, and her face was flushed as if with fever. The nurses urged her to lie down again and assured her there were no cameras in use, but Mion screamed in their faces that they were all liars. Why didn't anyone understand, she thought wildly? Her whole family wanted to kill her, and they were in league with the Jouga General Hospital!

In the end, Mion had to be injected with a sedative before she would be pacified. At first she resisted, kicking at the nurses and throwing weak, unbalanced punches with her one unbroken arm. She only calmed down and accepted the injection when the doctor informed her that continuing her tantrum would land her in the special psych section of the hospital. That meant being here in Jouga for another three days at least. Although she hated the thought of going home, Mion felt that staying at the hospital any longer would destroy the last vestiges of her sanity. So she quieted down, deciding she wanted to be discharged tomorrow after all.

By the time Keiichi arrived late in the afternoon, Mion was calm enough for company, but only because of the sedative. Without it, she would have been a total wreck. After all, she hadn't slept at all, hadn't showered when given the rare opportunity, and hadn't eaten much of anything in three days. Furthermore, Mion had bitten her nails so low that the cuticles bled and the bare fingertips became red and irritated. The nurses had to cover her hands in bandages.

The sedative medication had a side effect of disinhibition, so during Keiichi's visit, Mion found herself ready and willing to talk about pretty much anything. When she heard herself say things she normally might not have said, she felt no shame, only a fuzzy feeling in her head and a little lightheadedness. Keiichi listened while Mion told him all about how she felt she was being watched, and about her dreams, and about having to be injected earlier that day. Despite hearing things that would disturb some people, Keiichi simply told Mion that she was stressed and over-thinking things, comforting her with kind words and an unjudging heart.

If Mion had gone on to tell Keiichi about what her family had done and what she feared from Shion, Satoko, and Rika, then events might have taken a different course. Before Mion could get around to discussing her paranoia, however, Keiichi decided to take on a more active role. He could see that Mion was falling apart and needed to return as soon as possible. He could see that she might not make it through the night alone without some kind of assurance. So Keiichi sat on the edge of the bed and took Mion's hand.

"What can I do?" he asked. When she answered with a blank expression, Keiichi explained, "I know you need help. Right now I might be the only person who can help you. Mion, you're one of my best friends. I would do just about anything to make you feel better and get you through this last day in the hospital. So tell me. Isn't there anything I can do?"

Keiichi wasn't even sure what he had in mind when he said that, but Mion thought of something right away. "Keiichi," she said, "tell me you love me."

A brief silence followed. "I'm sorry," stammered the boy. "I must have heard you wrong. You—"

"Then I'll say it louder." Again Mion was vaguely conscious of the fact that she was unusually disinhibited. "I love you, Kei-chan. And I want you to love me too. So tell me you love me."

A single bead of sweat broke out on Keiichi's brow. Oh God, he thought, what should I do? Mion's obviously not in her right mind just now. The Mion I know would never have confessed in a way like that. But still… that doesn't mean she's talking nonsense. She might actually really have a crush on me. Come to think of it, that makes sense after what happened last visit. Maybe Mion intended to confess to me in a better way at a better time, but now she's slipped up and said it out of left field.

Rena just confessed to me two days ago, Keiichi remembered. Now Mion is saying she loves me too. That makes me kind of happy… I'm a lucky guy…. But no, no! Those aren't the kind of thoughts I should have, are they? What am I supposed to do? Do I like Mion? I mean, she is beautiful, and strong, and her family is wealthy...

"Keiichi?" asked Mion in a faint voice. Tears had welled up in her teal-green eyes and were threatening to start spilling down her face. "You... you're not answering. Does… does that mean… you don't love me?" Her lip quivered.

"I'm sorry! I do!" Keiichi blurted it out without thinking. He didn't know if he loved her or if he just couldn't handle seeing her break down and cry. Certainly, he cared for her… and certainly, she was a rare kind of beautiful… her long, uncut hair gave her a sense of purity, her height gave her a sense of elegance, and of course she had those astounding bulges at her chest…

"You look like you've said something horrible." Mion's eyes narrowed, and suddenly she seemed menacing. Suddenly she was every bit the Sonozaki heiress, cold and commanding, strong and determined even with her hands in bandages and her arm in a cast. "Why do you look so unnerved, Keiichi? Is it because you lied to me? Well? Did you lie to me just now?"

It doesn't matter, Keiichi thought. Mion is under the influence of some sedative drug. She won't remember this later. So I'll just reassure her and tell her what she wants to hear. We'll talk about it for real later. There's nothing wrong with that, is there? I'm giving her what she wants.

"It's no lie." Keiichi leaned over Mion's body, supporting himself with one arm and hand placed next to Shion's head, while with his other hand he stroked her cheek. His legs pinned hers down as he moved himself fully onto the bed. "I love you, Mion. See?"

Mion reached up with her unbroken arm and pulled Keiichi's face closer to hers. "Let's kiss."

"B-but Mion. I'm—and you're—I mean—"

The intimidatory voice rose again. "Why not, Keiichi? Don't you love me? Maybe you're just lying. Kiss me or I will know you are lying."

Something in her tone and the mad spark in deep in her eyes made Keiichi shiver. What choice did he have? He kissed her. He kissed her for maybe sixty seconds, tasting her, letting his tongue touch hers, feeling hopelessly awkward, clumsy, and even gross—but passionate. Maybe Keiichi was lying about being in love with Mion; he wasn't sure. But the heat and fervor he felt when he kissed her was not a lie. Every bit of it was genuine, and that made him even more confused.

"Come back tomorrow to take me home," Mion said after Keiichi broke away with effort. "I don't want my family escorting me back in some yakuza car. I want you to do it."

"Fine." Keiichi swallowed hard, knowing he was getting into something way over his head. "I'll be here tomorrow then, Mion. I promise."


	16. Konban Dake (Just For Tonight)

**16: Konban Dake (Just for Tonight)**

Keiichi was almost overwhelmed enough to want to cry when he returned to his home around dinnertime that night. His parents were still on their vacation, having extended it another two days. When Rika and Satoko jumped out at him from their hiding place behind the kitchen counter, shouting, " _Okaeri_ ," Keiichi responded by screamed like bloody murder. He felt like years were shaved off his life.

"You two rascals!" the boy fussed at them indignantly. "Were you trying to give me a heart attack? What are you doing here? And why are you inside my house uninvited?" He folded his arms and looked down at Rika critically. "And here I thought you were such a good little girl, Rika-chama. Satoko's rudeness and self-indulgent nature must be rubbing off on you!"

Before Rika could reply, Satoko cut in with one of her characteristic, over-the-top "villain" laughs. "Ahahaha! Keiichi-san, before you talk about manners, maybe you should take off your shoes and switch to house slippers!"

"My house, my rules!" Keiichi dragged his feet across the kitchen floor, tracking bits of dirt.

"Your house, your job to clean it," Satoko laughed at him.

" _Ma_ , _ma_ , you two." Rika shook her head at their antics. "Keiichi-san, we didn't come uninvited, so-it-is. You told us we could watch the television and have a sleepover here since we have no electricity at my house. The recent rains knocked out the power, so-it-is. Don't you remember?"

"Ah—oh… you're right." Keiichi slumped down onto the floor, looking defeated, and finally starting taking his shoes off. "I totally forgot I said you could come over tonight. But hey!" He glared at them in mock-anger and barked, "That doesn't mean you can sneak inside while I'm away!"

"It's your fault for leaving the door unlocked." Satoko's tone dripped with condescension.

"Nobody locks their doors in Hinamizawa!" Keiichi insisted.

"Maybe they should," Rika cut in. "Keiichi, from now on, I want you to lock your doors at night or when you leave town, so-it-is. You never know what could happen. Better safe than sorry, so-it-is. More importantly, Keiichi, did you really forget about having us over tonight?"

"I did." Keiichi fell into his usual habit of scratching at the back of his head when he felt awkward. "I'm sorry, Rika-chan, Satoko. I've had a lot on my mind."

"Like what?" inquired Rika, standing and staring fixedly at Keiichi while Satoko started preparing some dinner for everyone. "If something is really bothering you, I want to know about it. I've got to keep a check on you, so-it-is. It's my duty as your friend. Nipah!"

(Rika used that phrase to cover her true thoughts, which were more along the lines of, " _I need to know if you're showing signs of the Syndrome so I can eliminate the threat if necessary_.")

"Your duty as my friend?" Keiichi repeated. He gave a tired sigh and said sarcastically, "Are you sure you're not concerned because you're in love with me? It seems to be a trend. Everybody loves me all of a sudden. It wouldn't surprise me if you had a crush on me too."

"I might have a little crush on you," replied Rika, apparently so amused by the boy that her smile seemed to glow and her violet eyes seemed to sparkle. "After all, you're a handsome, roguish young man, Keiichi-san. And—" here she was completely honest even though she knew he wouldn't understand —"I do think you're amazing. You can make miracles occur that don't happen in any other world, so-it-is. You are the most faithful of friends, so-it-is. If you had never transferred here, I believe the world would be much worse, so-it-is. So yes, I like you."

" _Mou_ , Rika," Keiichi grunted as he stretched and stood up. "Sometimes I have no idea what you're talking about. But forget that a moment. If you like me, does that mean…?"

"I like you, but I know it can never work out," Rika interrupted, speaking straightforwardly. "If you ask why, I'd have to say it's the age difference, so-it-is." _You're far too young for me, Keiichi,_ the shrine maiden thought to herself, pleased by own private joke. _I must be near seventy by now in terms of how many worlds I've lived through._

Meanwhile, Keiichi chuckled, and patted Rika on the top of the head as per his habit. "Yeah," he said, "you're too young right now. It's not cool to be into girls your age. But Rika, wait a few years, and then you'll have a chance to get with me too. You'll have a lot of competition though."

"Did Mii-chan confess to you?" Rika asked, suddenly serious. "Or Rena-chan? Or maybe both?"

"Ah… well…" Keiichi felt reluctant to disclose all his recent love drama to Rika, whether she was a wise god's reincarnation or not. He felt ashamed when he thought of how he had been handling things. Satoko had just called from the living room, saying the food was ready and the television was set up. There was a chance that Satoko or even Rika might try to get involved if they knew of Keiichi's troubles—they would either get in the way trying to help him, he thought, or make things worse by playing pranks on him and Mion and Rena.

"It's nothing like that," Keiichi said at last, shrugging away the small voices that warned him not to lie to Rika. "Forget I mentioned anything about love. I was just daydreaming a little. I'm only sixteen and I have school to think about. There's no room to be running wild with girls for a healthy Japanese high school student. Besides, I don't want anything in our after-school club to change. Something like love would definitely change the dynamic."

Based on the frown etched across Rika's usually adorable face, she was not convinced by this answer. Several more times that evening, she tried to get Keiichi to talk. Each time, Keiichi brushed her off with excuses, distractions, or lies, or else Satoko fussed at them about not being able to hear the TV. When it was time for the two little girls to sleep, they set up their futons in the empty bedroom usually used by Keiichi's parents, and got ready to sleep. Keiichi came and told them goodnight and that they should come down the hall and wake him if they needed anything.

Only after that did Rika finally give up on pestering Keiichi. _It doesn't seem like there's anything to worry about_ , she admitted to herself. _Keiichi is just overwhelmed because of some love drama. Probably either Mion or Rena confessed to him. Honestly, I could care less. The important thing is that Keiichi isn't showing signs of Hinamizawa Syndrome. That's all I wanted to verify. Even if he's genuinely having a hard time with Mion or Rena, I've never known a world where love drama drove Keiichi to madness. I worried all evening over nothing. Everything is going well in this world, for once. I will rest easy tonight._

Rika didn't realize she was missing the crucial point in all this. Keiichi wasn't the one she needed to be worried about. He wasn't the one who would be driven mad. Mion was a different story. However, there had never yet been a world where the elder twin killed anyone or exhibited level five of the Syndrome. Well, there may have been worlds where it seemed like Mion was the culprit, but in the end it was always Shion, having switched places with her sister. So Rika neglected to even consider Mion at that point. She fell asleep early.

* * *

That night, Shion woke herself up screaming. She expected Kasai to come running, but then she remembered that he had left to take care of some urgent legal issues his father was having. Shion had seen another nightmare where Satoshi turned into Keiichi, but that wasn't the part that made her scream. In the dream, Keiichi made love to her until they were suddenly interrupted by two walking corpses, swollen, covered in blood, pale, and so thin they looked skeletal. Even so, they were just barely recognizable. They were the corpses of Houjou Teppei and Rina Mamiya, whom Shion had helped kill.

Almost every night this week, the dead had shown up to haunt her dreams. Each time, the Houjou man attacked Keiichi and began feeding on his flesh like a zombie, while Rina pounced on Shion and got her in a strangle-hold. Shion would wake up to find her throat sore in reality, not because of being strangled, but because she had been scratching at her neck in her sleep. It had started to itch again lately even during the day. She had also started feeling a deep-seated fear in her gut, and a feeling that she was being watched. And now and then, she swear she saw Satoshi out of the corner of her eye, or heard his voice in the wind. It all felt so real.

These symptoms were much like those that Shion had felt while restrained in the basement of the Irie clinic. The teenage girl's daily injections were supposed to keep that madness under control, and at first, they did their job excellently. The medication only started losing its effectiveness after Shion helped Rika kill those two crooks. It had re-awakened her insanity. Rika mentioned that this was a risk of helping her eliminate Houjou and Rina.

Shion knew she ought to tell the shrine maiden about her symptoms right away. But it was humbling to have to depend on a little girl and on injections for everything. Furthermore, Shion feared that if she shared the news of her growing instability, it would mean days or even weeks confined to the Irie clinic again, sedated, numb, and tied to a table. So Shion hadn't mentioned anything about her troubles to Rika.

However, that night in June, when Rika and Satoko were sleeping over at Keiichi's, Shion sorely regretted not telling the shrine maiden about her predicament. The dream of making love to Keiichi was confusing—he and Satoshi had almost become blended into one person in her mind. Being attacked by the corpses was terrifying, and upon waking, the urge to scratch her neck was overwhelming. Those weren't the main reasons for Shion's regret, though. The main reason was the wild idea that came to her mind while she lay awake in bed. Satoshi had never been avenged, as far as she knew. He might be speaking to her more often because his soul was uneasy. So why not take vengeance now, and put his soul to rest? Why not kill Oni-baba?

Sonozaki Oryou was sick in the Irie Clinic with pneumonia. Nobody expected her to recover, and Irie told Akane sadly that the old woman would not live much longer. Shion was sure that Oryou had a hand in Satoshi's disappearance and likely death. As long as she lived, there was a chance Shion could take revenge against her one day. But if she died, the chance would be gone forever. She was going to die without apologizing for Satoshi. She was going to die without receiving judgment for her sins.

No, that was intolerable to even consider. Shion wouldn't allow it to happen. She knew a secret way into the Irie clinic that Rika told her to use if she ever needed help after hours. If she entered the clinic through there and found Oryou's room, Shion could easily kill the old lady and make it look natural. She could put oxygen bubbles in Oryou's IV fluid, leading to stroke and death. She could suffocate the old hag with a pillow, and cardiac arrest, a common end for the elderly, would be written as the cause. She could smash in Oryou's head with a heavy object, lay her body on the floor, and make it look like she had fallen, hit her head, and died.

In her mind, Shion could see herself committing any or all of these murderous deeds. If she were at level four or five of the Syndrome, the teenage girl would have indeed gone to the clinic and killed her grandmother. However, she wasn't too far gone yet. If she could just make it through the night, controlling the urge to kill, Shion vowed that she would tell Rika about her madness in the morning. Calling her now wasn't an option because the electricity in Rika's house was down. And if she went out to walk to Rika's house, Shion knew she would give in, change course, and head straight to the Irie clinic. She couldn't leave her apartment.

In a state of desperation, Shion could only think of one thing that would comfort her. She picked up the phone and dialed the number that would connect her to Keiichi's house. While the phone rang, tears trickled out of Shion's eyes and she sobbed softly. That was what Keiichi heard when he picked up the phone. He knew at once that something serious was going on. Shion would never call him in the dead of night unless it was urgent. And she had never before cried where he could see or hear her. But now she was crying so much it was difficult to make sense of her words.

"Shion, what's wrong?" Keiichi demanded. "Are you hurt? Are you in trouble? Please try to answer clearly!"

"I'm—I'm going to kill my grandmother," Shion sobbed. "I can't stop myself. I've gone crazy. No, I'm not hurt. And I'm not in trouble. But I will be soon if I don't have help. I'm alone, Keiichi." The anguish in her voice was heartbreaking. "Kasai isn't here. I'm all alone. I'm sorry to ask you, Keiichi. I'm sorry. But I don't know what else to do. Please come and stay with me. Just help me through tonight. Otherwise… otherwise…" Shion scratched at her neck and pulled at her hair wildly. "Otherwise I'm really going to do it!" she shouted. "I'll _slaughter_ that Oni-baba! It's her fault Satoshi is gone. I won't let her die peacefully!"

"Shion, calm down!" Keiichi exclaimed, and to his relief, her deranged rant came to a halt. "Don't leave your apartment, Shion. I'm on my way. That's right. I'm coming to see you, so don't try to talk me out of it now. I don't care that it's three in the morning. I don't care that it's dangerous to ride all the way to Okinomiya in the pitch black. Ha, that actually sounds exciting. Shion," he said in his determined and mischievous voice, "hang tight. I'll be there in an hour." He hung up the phone.

Though they had known each other for two and a half months, Shion had never uttered a word about Satoshi to Keiichi before now. She wanted to avoid looking weak to her new friend. However, Rika had one day taken Keiichi aside explained various things. That Satoshi was missing and almost certainly dead. That Shion had been deep in love with the boy. And that there was a dark side to Shion that lusted after her family's blood for vengeance. She might even kill Satoko and Rika for perceived wrongdoings related to Satoshi's disappearance.

The dark version of Shion might appear at any time, Rika had warned, and if it did, the only person who had a chance of stopping it was Keiichi. So far, Rika had seen several worlds where the power of friendship stopped the progression of Hinamizawa Syndrome at levels one to three. Then there was that one world where Keiichi had stopped Rena's madness when she was already at level five and attempting to kill people. Out of everyone in the club, Keiichi was the most steadfast friend, the one who would not judge his companions, and the one who most effectively alleviated their psychosis.

 _Thank you, Rika,_ Keiichi thought. _Thank you for telling me that I have this kind of power. If you hadn't told me, I wouldn't know what to do right now. But I'm going to see Shion right away. I will calm the demon within her. I'll make her well again. With those thoughts in mind, Keiichi left a note behind (telling Rika and Satoko where he had gone), grabbed his wallet, and set off on his bike. He pedaled with strength he never knew he had. Gomen, Shion. I didn't realize till now how important you are to me. I'll make it up to you._

* * *

Nothing would relax Shion, and nothing would comfort her, except having Keiichi lie down on the bed with her. It started out innocently enough. They held hands but did nothing else, and Keiichi kept his body a few inches away from hers and stayed on top of the covers instead of joining her underneath. Shion soon drifted off into sleep. It was more difficult for Keiichi to sleep, though; he had seen the teenage girl in her slim, short, and low-cut white nightgown, and he couldn't stop thinking about getting under the blanket and resting his body against hers.

Keiichi knew his limits. As slowly and quietly as possible, he tried to leave the bed to go sleep in Kasai's room next door. However, Shion had fallen asleep holding his hand, and despite his best efforts, he woke her when he pulled it away. Mion's twin whispered in a faint and imploring voice, begging Keiichi not to go. Except she didn't call him Keiichi. She called him Satoshi, while pulling him down on top of her, and wrapping her arms around him. One hand stroked the hair on the back of his head, and the other wandered down his back under his shirt.

"No, Shion," Keiichi whispered, though rejecting her sudden and rousing love was acutely difficult for him as a man. "I'm not Satoshi. Look at me. I'm your friend, Maebara Keiichi."

When she obeyed and took a closer look at the boy's face, Shion only looked weak and disappointed for a second. "So you are Keiichi." Then she gazed at him shyly and yet somehow with determination, her eyes telling him she wanted him. It took all her courage, but she laid her hand gently on the bulge in Keiichi's pants. "But even though you're not Satoshi," Shion whispered, "does it matter? You're already hard. Let's… let's be together tonight."

"Maebara Keiichi is your friend," the young man answered with effort. "Friends don't just sleep together on a whim. It's reckless. And it could ruin our friendship. And—" it made him blush to say it—"and there are other girls who like me. I can't sleep with you before I've given them a proper answer. It wouldn't be appropriate."

"You're a virgin, aren't you?" asked Shion, and the ghost of a smile hovered on the corners of her lips. "I'm not. Maybe you know that. Maybe Mion told you. And maybe that's why you don't want me. But as someone more experienced, I can make it better for both of us. We won't be reckless. You can pull out before you come. Nothing will change in the club, because we'll only be together this one time, and we don't need to tell anybody about it."

Keiichi wasn't sure where to begin. He thought it would be improper and wrong to have sex with Shion. But everything she said turned him on more. It was just this once. Nothing would change. And she was experienced.

"We can't," he said, though everything in him shouted out the opposite. "Doing this could hurt our friends. It would also disrespect you, in a way. A good friend wouldn't do this. And Maebara Keiichi is your best friend. So as long as I am who I am, I can't stay in the bed with you. Honto ni Gomenasai." He removed himself from on top of Shion's body and moved to sit on the edge of the bed, his back to her.

"Then don't be Maebara Keiichi," Shion said with a newfound strength to her voice. "I can't think of you as Keiichi tonight no matter how I try. So humor me. Just for tonight, be Houjou Satoshi." All her shyness forgotten, she pulled off her nightgown and turned Keiichi to face her. "You don't have to love me. I don't want you to. After tonight, you can forget this ever happened. Just be my Satoshi for one night. Nothing will change for Maebara Keiichi."

As she finished speaking, Shion leaned forward and kissed Keiichi. He accepted it, and responded by putting his hands on her shoulders and lying her down on her back on the bed. He swung his legs over hers, and supporting himself above her with one hand, he used his other to grab her breast. It was softer than he imagined, and the nipple he massaged was hard. Shion gave a light moan in response, and Keiichi was sold. His mind was made up.

"Just for tonight," he told her breathlessly, as he started undressing, "I am Houjou Satoshi."


	17. Kyouki ga Hajimaru (Madness Begins)

**17: Kyouki ga Hajimaru (The Madness Begins)**

After lunch the next day, Mion was taken home to Hinamizawa by her mother and Kimiyoshi Kiichirou. Sonozaki Akane sat in the back, giving the passenger seat to Mion, while old man Kimiyoshi drove the beaten-up, dusty-brown car. Well, this was a lot better than being taken home surrounded by Ando, Tatsuyoshi, and their agents all hiding guns and driving a shiny black car. However, it was still disappointing.

Keiichi was supposed to have come early that morning, before school. They were supposed to ride the express train back to the Okinomiya and then bike to Hinamizawa, talking and laughing and growing closer to each other. That's what Mion had hoped for, and that's what Keiichi had promised. In the past, he had always kept his word. What could have made him break his promise? Though the offense was small, to Mion, it seemed like a gravely distressing betrayal. She decided she wouldn't be mad at Keiichi. But she would not forgive whoever it was who made him break his promise.

Soon after arriving at the main Sonozaki House, the phone rang. Mion picked up and found that it was Keiichi calling from school. Sincerely and repeatedly, he apologized for not going to meet her that morning. He swore to make it up to her. When Mion asked why he hadn't come, Keiichi confessed it was because he overslept, and had to run to school immediately. He told Mion that he slept so late because he was up late on urgent business that absolutely had to be done that night. Shion would explain farther, he said, that evening. Mion was not satisfied, and angrily asked for more details, but Keiichi had to go because lunch break was over and he wasn't even supposed to be using the school phone.

After school, Keiichi, Shion, Rena, Satoko, and Rika all came to stop by the Sonozaki House and bring over some food as well as the notes and materials Mion would need to make up for missed school days. Everyone could tell that Mion wasn't as cheerful as usual, but for the most part she hid the boiling rage she truly felt, along with the constant fear of everyone and everything around her. Rika thought it was natural for the Sonozaki girl to be a little down and irritable since she had probably been lonely and frustrated about being in the hospital for a week with little contact with her friends or family.

The six friends played several card and board games that evening. They shared snacks and drank some delicious cranberry juice Rena's father had bought. Everyone expected Mion to cheer up and return to normal as the evening went on, but she didn't. She started looking increasingly angry. Finally, Shion put down her cards and gave a sigh.

"Alright, Onee," she said. "There's no need to stay in the corner growling and glaring anymore. You've made it clear to all of us that you're really sore over not getting picked up this morning. Keiichi has already apologized. But I haven't. And so." Until then, Shion had been speaking in a light, casual tone that was somewhat condescending. However, now her expression became grave, and she bowed to her sister. "I apologize for the inconvenience I caused you," she said, for once sounding genuine. "It wasn't Keiichi's fault, but mine. It's hard for me to talk about this. It's frightening, because I don't know how you'll react, and humbling and embarrassing. But I trust you all as my best friends, so I'll do my best.

"Last night," she told Mion, "I planned to go and kill Oni-baba. I hate her. Not only for what she did to Satoshi. I've always hated her. But obviously, killing her would be insane. I was losing my mind. Some of you know this, but… every day, I take an injection to keep my madness under control. Well, it turns out I need a higher dose. That's why I was losing it last night. This morning, I went to the clinic and Irie-sensei gave me a stronger injection. I'm feeling better, and I'm ashamed of how close I am came to killing a family member."

"What does that have to do with Keiichi?" asked Mion suspiciously.

"Without Keiichi," replied Shion, "I never would have made it through the night. I might have killed Oni-baba, or I might have clawed out my throat. I called Keiichi. Because he talked to me and comforted me, I made it through. But since he helped me in the middle of the night, he was so tired he overslept today. He called you as soon as he could. Once again, Onee, I'm sorry to have been the cause of something that upset you so much."

"I'm sorry too," added Keiichi, also bowing down. "If I weren't such a kid, I might have stayed awake and come to pick you up with or without sleep."

Looking from Keiichi to Shion and back again, Mion's face relaxed somewhat. "Is that it?" she asked. She had not expected her sister to have such an understandable excuse, and furthermore, to be honest about it in front of everyone. "You were talking on the phone all night, Keiichi? And you were worried about Shion going off the deep end? Well." It seemed too good to be true. Mion smiled. "If that's the case, all is forgiven."

Something struck Rika as "off." She said, "Wait a moment. That's not exactly correct. Keiichi didn't just talk to Shion over the phone. He had to go to Okinomiya to make sure she stayed put in her apartment. Otherwise, she would definitely have tried to go after Oryou-sama."

The tension in the room became almost tangible. Rika realized she had said something she shouldn't have. Satoko shifted uncomfortably, Keiichi blushed, and Shion frowned. Mion looked at her twin with pure hatred in her eyes.

"Kei-chan," said Mion in the menacing tone she used when she was the heir of the Sonozaki house, fierce and dark. "Are you trying to tell me you slept with Shion last night?"

"You don't have to say it like that," Rika cut in, anxious to make up for her mistake, and mistakenly confident in Keiichi's honor. "Of course they didn't sleep together, so-it-is. Shion's apartment has two bedrooms. Keiichi would have slept in Kasai-san's room."

"That's right," said Satoko, waving her finger at Mion. "I'm surprised you would say something so dirty about Keiichi. He would never do anything dishonorable with Shion-san. And Shion-san is my nee-nee. I know her. She wouldn't do it either." The little golden-haired girl was certain that Shion would never make the same mistake she made with Satoshi in the shed last year.

Rena agreed with the consensus. "I don't think Keiichi-kun and Shii-chan feel that way about each other." She looked over at Keiichi, caught his eye, and blushed. "I think Keiichi-kun would have told me if he felt that way." After all, she thought, he's too busy thinking about what answer he's going to give me.

"I want to hear it from them," Mion stated simply, indicating the two guilty parties.

Both Keiichi and Shion felt a healthy dose of shame and self-loathing after hearing their friends stand up for them when it wasn't true. But they had already agreed never to tell anyone what they had done. They had agreed to never talk about it again. And with Mion looking at them so severely, neither of them would have had the courage to tell the truth even if they did think it would be for the best. It was better for no one to know. They were sure.

" _Mou_ , Onee-chan," said Shion, shaking her head and giving another sigh. "I know you like Keiichi. You and Rena can fight over him yourselves. I don't feel that way about him. I can say for certain we didn't do anything dirty last night. The only person I'd sleep with… he's gone." Even now, mentioning Satoshi made her sad.

"That's right," Keiichi nodded enthusiastically. "And as for me, I'm an honorable young man. I'm not some lady's man or some delinquent who sleeps around. Have a little faith in me, Mion." Apparently, fear was an excellent motivator, because Keiichi had never lied so well in his life.

"Very well then," said Mion, closing her eyes and folding her hands down on her lap. "I will take you on your word, both of you. No, all of you. I trust you. But if I find out you've lied to me, you'll find out what it's like to make an enemy of the head of the Sonozaki House. There are things that none of you know about the Sonozaki House, maybe not even you, Rika. We are the shadow leaders of Hinamizawa. We are the justice in this town. We decide what constitutes acts of aggression or disrespect to the family. And we punish those who lie to us."

She intended for the threat to be every bit as ominous as it was, because she didn't really trust them. Not fully. Shion could not be completely innocent; she never was. In order to spite her older sister, she must have at least flirted with Keiichi and maybe kissed him. And Mion would make her pay for that. She might have to make Rena pay, too—based on the way she looked at Keiichi and blushed, she must like him. Maybe she had already made a move. Mion wouldn't let her get away with that. A plan began forming in her mind, and the first step was to kill the good mood and scare everyone into leaving.

"We understand," said Satoko, breaking the long silence that followed the threat. "Mion-san. There's no reason to try to scare everybody. Most of us should be getting on our way home soon. The festival is tomorrow, remember? We all need to rest. However," she added after everyone else but Shion had packed their things and left, "I want to talk with you alone for a minute, Mion-san."

"That's what I was going to say," rejoined Shion, a little surprised. Satoko had been quiet about the incident of pushing Mion off the stairs. She had been quiet in general lately. What did she want to say to Mion?

"I can't talk with either of you alone while you're both here," Mion grumbled. She was growing more frightened with each passing second; she was now alone in the house with just Satoko and Shion, who, she was convinced, wanted her dead. She might have to fight them, she thought, fingering the Taser she kept in a holster over one shoulder.

"I don't mind if Nee-nee hears what I have to say," stated Satoko. She pushed the golden hair out of her face and tried to look up boldly at the towering figure of Mion, but the stare of the Sonozaki heir made her look down at the floor. "M-Mion-san," Satoko stammered. "Keiichi said he gave you my letter in the hospital. But saying it in a letter isn't enough. I want to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry for pushing you. I don't know what came over me."

The beginnings of tears gathered in the little girl's dark eyes. "To be honest," she continued, "I think I might need a stronger injection like Nee-nee, too. Because lately, I just feel like someone is watching me, and I keep thinking… I keep thinking maybe you want to kill me, Mion-san. Since you heard what I did to my parents."

"Satoko!" exclaimed Shion, kneeling next to the little girl and looking at her with teal eyes full of concern. "If you think you need more medicine, we should go talk to Rika right away. She can help. And of course Onee doesn't want to kill you. Right, Onee?"

All this time, Mion had been listening with one hand on her hip and a bleak expression on her face. What she was hearing made no sense to her. Did Satoko expect to be forgiven so easily, when she had caused Mion a week of agony in the hospital and a broken arm that would be in a cast for months? Apologies were not enough to make Mion forgive the cursed Houjou girl for trying to kill her. And she didn't know a thing about Satoko's parents; what was that about? That must be a distraction to throw her off. To top it all, Satoko was looking all pathetic and saying she was scared of being killed? Obviously this was some kind of act.

Without really knowing why, Mion let out a long, overly dramatic laugh. "Please," she scoffed at Satoko and Shion derisively, "you two aren't fooling me. You're just trying to get my guard down so you can try to kill me. That's why you're both here tonight, isn't it? And Satoko, I didn't hear a damn thing about your parents, but now I'm putting two and two together."

She smiled cruelly. "You killed them, didn't you? Patricide! Matricide! You're a cursed little girl, Houjou Satoko. That's all the more proof that you were really were trying to kill me when you pushed me off the stairs. But it wasn't just you. I know Shion put you up to it. She's never forgiven me for giving her those scars on her back. And I'll never forgive her for trying to steal Keiichi." Shion took out her Taser and went into a well-balanced fighting stance.

Things were going downhill rapidly. Shion could hardly believe what she was hearing from her sister. None of it sounded like her at all. Since when had she been so suspicious, so paranoid, and so angry? Satoko screeched in terror and ran to the far corner of the room. Meanwhile, Shion stood up and drew her own Taser from her back pocket. She had absolutely no desire to hurt her sister, but it looked like Mion might really try to hurt someone. There was a mad spark in her eyes and a red flush in her face. So Shion had to draw for self-defense.

"You need to calm down, Onee," Shion said in a warning tone. "You're acting as crazy as I was last night. Can you hear yourself? You think I want to kill you? I know Oni-baba ordered you to whip me, and you didn't have a choice. And I know that it was a punishment for you too, because you couldn't handle hurting me. It's been a year. I forgive you already, Onee-chan. How unreasonable do you think I am? And as for Satoko…" Shion raised her voice with anger. "Don't you dare pick on her for something a disease made her do! She's not a killer! And even if she was, she's a tiny eleven year old girl! How can you be afraid of her? What happened to make you like this, Mion?"

" _What happened_?" repeated Mion, livid. "What happened?! That little cunt in the corner almost killed me! I could have died from the head injury! You can't say it was an accident! A Houjou has to pay for raising her hand against a Sonozaki! And as for you, my demon of a sister! You say you forgive me? So what?"

She gave another mad laugh. "There are other reasons you would want me dead. As you made clear today, you want Keiichi. From the start, you knew I liked him! You saw how it was going well between us! So you decided to kill me and have him all to yourself! You were always jealous of me, since forever, because I was treated well while grandma beat you and mom looked the other way. And me, I've always been jealous of you, doing whatever you want just because you're younger."

With a shout, Mion lunged forward, Taser in hand, aiming for her sister's neck. The cast made her unbalanced, and Shion dodged easily. "Always doing what you want!" yelled Mion, and she started listing her resentments. "Getting your own bodyguard! Getting dad to teach you how to shoot when I was stuck learning kenjitsu! Running away from St. Lucia's! Defying grandma. Working at that indecent café! And making a whore out of yourself 'doing it' with Satoshi in a tool shed!"

A few times, Mion tried to zap her sister, but each time she missed. Shion even had time to slap her sister's face before bounding back out of reach. "Don't talk about Satoshi," she growled. "Don't talk about things you'll never understand."

"Stop fighting!" Satoko shouted, trying to get between the two of them. But they ignored her.

"You never knew," Mion laughed, "did you? That I liked Satoshi too? I liked him first. But you came in with your tragic rape story, and suddenly he wanted to be your white knight! And I know more about him than you do. I know exactly what happened to him. If it weren't for you, he might not have been killed! It's because you slept with him that Oryou considered it an insult to the Sonozaki House. She ordered dad to kill Satoshi. And he did. That's why neither of them ever came home. Are you surprised, Shion?!"

Though Shion was doing her best not to let herself be affected by the crazy things her sister was saying, the new information threw her off guard. Was it true? Had her father killed Satoshi? Had Mion known and lied about it all along? Shion made the mistake of pausing instead of continuing to move around the room, and the prongs of Mion's stun-gun jabbed into her ribs, followed by an electric shock with a powerful enough voltage to make the younger twin scream. She toppled onto the floor, breathless with pain. Her body felt numb, but she was conscious.

"Lie there and stay quiet for a bit, you whore," Mion spat. "I'll deal with you after I get rid of the accursed Houjou girl. You'll have to wait your turn, Shion."

Satoko's eyes were wide as plates, her skin was moist with sweat, and her tiny body trembled as she backed away. "N-no!" she cried hoarsely. "Stay away from me! No!"

Ignoring her pleas, Mion advanced. Satoko made a run for the door, but Mion, with her longer legs and more athletic build, reached it first and slammed it shut. Then she smacked the little girl backhand, as hard as she could, across the face. The blow made Satoko fall. Kneeling beside her, Mion grabbed a handful of her golden hair and pulled her up by it. The little girl shouted in pain and started sobbing.

"I haven't even done anything yet to make you cry," growled Mion. Still holding her by the hair, Mion moved her hand down so Satoko's head bashed against the floor. "Take that, you shitty brat!" She lifted Satoko's head and brought it back down again, this time splitting the skin on the little girl's forehead and making blood run down her face. She wailed in terror and pain.

"I'll teach you to throw me down twenty feet of stairs, you little wretch!" Mion tossed her victim onto her back on the floor as lightly as if she were a ragdoll. As she straddled Satoko, Mion's hands found the little girl's neck and took a firm grip. "Aren't you going to call for your Nii-Nii?" she asked mockingly. "Isn't that what you always do? Even though he's never coming back for you. He never would! But cry for him, go on! It will satisfy me!"

Struggling to get her breath under Mion's tight grip, Satoko stopped wailing. Although she was looking and sounding weaker by the second, and her face was rapidly growing red, there was still determination in the little girl's eyes. "I won't call Nii-Nii," she managed to cough out. "I've become so much stronger. I won't rely on him anymore. And I won't cry for Nee-Nee either. I won't give you satisfaction!"

"Brat!" Mion snarled, and with both hands around Satoko's neck, she squeezed as hard as she could. The thrill of killing was so great that Mion could barely hear Shion shouting at her to stop. She was entirely focused on Satoko, whose eyes were bulging more than Mion thought was possible. A thin line of drool fell from the corner of her mouth, which was open, trying to suck in air while she was strangled. As Mion continued choking her, she watched the flicker of light in Satoko's eyes start to darken. When that light went out, she would die.

"I had sex with Keiichi!" Shion screamed as loudly and shrilly as she could. She was still on the floor, unable to move, but able to speak and shout. She refused to let Satoko die when Satoshi had told her take care of her. Shion thought she had tried everything, shouting whatever she could think of to catch Mion's attention and get her leave Satoko alone. In the nick of time, she remembered the one thing that might do the job.

Shion went on, screaming, "Keiichi broke his promise to you because he was too busy screwing me! We had a great time! Keiichi told me his darkest secrets! It's something you'll never have with Keiichi! I got him first. How do you like that, Mion?"

This stunt saved Satoko's life. As soon as Shion admitted she had slept with Keiichi, Mion let go of the little girl's throat. Then she walked over to Shion slowly and menacingly. Her sister might have saved Satoko, but she would not be able to save herself. Mion decided she was going to torture and kill her sister. While she was thinking of how best to go about doing it, Shion howled at Satoko to run. Run for her life. With effort, and still gasping and coughing, the little girl got to her feet and ran out the door. She was safe. Shion had done her job. As Mion drew closer to her, the younger twin knew she would not survive. But at least Satoko would survive.


	18. Nise Jisatsu, Satsujin, Sakkin-zai

**17: Nise no Jisatsu, Satsujin, soushite Sakkin-zai (Fake Suicide, Murder, and Sororicide)**

It took a few long hours of work to secure Shion satisfactorily. First she had to be force-fed sleeping pills. Then she was Tasered unconsciousness. The next step after that was dragging her unexpectedly heavy body all the way down to the secret underground torture chamber. Mion tied her up there in a special place, plans already forming in her mind about how she would torment and kill her sister. But before that, some important tasks needed handling.

The only person who would be likely to miss Shion right away was Kasai, assuming he had returned to the apartment in Okinomiya. It was already around eleven at night when Mion set off via bike to the bigger neighboring town; it was just about midnight when she reached her destination.

The apartment that Shion and Kasai shared was number 407, located on the highest story of the building. Mion was strong, and barely panted even after climbing the four staircases. She had been careful to dress in her sister's new pale-green cardigan and denim skirt. Her Taser rested in the back pocket of said skirt. Feeling ready and eager, Mion knocked on door 407.

"Shion-san," said Tatsuyoshi Kasai as he opened the door and let the girl inside. This was the first time Mion had ever seen the handsome man not dressed in a black yakuza suit and shades. Besides his black trousers, all he had on was a grey-white undershirt, completely unbuttoned, showing his well-toned chest and torso. Mion had never seen a man old enough to have hair on his chest except for her father.

"Shion lived together with this hunk?" the teenage girl thought to herself. "Under the same roof? No wonder sis was always a little perverted. You can't tell me nothing ever happened between them. It's a shame I have to kill such a looker." Out loud, the only thing Mion said was a cheery "Tadaima," which means "I'm home/I'm back."

While Mion followed him into the kitchen and put on some tea, Kasai explained that he had only returned from his business in the city two hours earlier. He had assumed Shion would stay over at the Sonozaki estate. The business in question, Kasai also told the girl, was testifying in court against his own father. The once prominent member of the Sonozaki Group, Tatsuyoshi Mamoru, was now on trial for numerous crimes.

This subject obviously wasn't pleasant for Kasai, so he inquired as to why Shion came home so late instead of just staying with Mion. "What were the infamous twins up to this time?" he asked her with a gruff laugh.

"Oh, we got distracted talking about things," Mion said, trying imbue her voice with that feminine and almost flippant tone characteristic of Shion. "Some of the discussion was very intense. We ended up having a fight, so I decided to come home. I'm pretty tired," she lied, wide awake. "I think I'll go to bed right away. You should, too, when you've finished your tea. It sounds like the last few days were a real headache for you."

After that, everything went beautifully, all according to Mion's plan. She reclined in Shion's bed and pretended to be asleep for two long hours. Then, quiet as a mouse, she crept out of her room and into Kasai's. It was a warm night, but Mion was still surprised to see her sister's bodyguard sleeping without covers and wearing nothing but grey briefs. Mion felt tempted to laugh, until she saw the gun on his bedside table, easily within reach of his long arms.

For a moment, Mion didn't move, spooked by the weapon. Not many normal citizens of Japan carried firearms, let alone ones equipped with silencers. It seemed that although Kasai had given up any yakuza-related work, he prioritized the defense of himself and Shion enough to break the law and carry a firearm. If Mion remembered correctly, Kasai had once been in love with her then-maiden mother, Akane. The faithful fool must have loved her beyond imagining, if he went to such lengths to protect her daughter, Shion.

Stubbornly, Mion fought against the guilt and pity rising inside her. As she stealthily approached her sleeping victim, the Sonozaki heiress found herself hoping that the steadfast man would stir. She wished, deep down, that he would fire at her and end her mental agony. However, Kasai remained sound asleep, until the moment Mion zapped him in the back of the neck with her Taser. Next, the teenage girl picked up the gun from the table, using a rag so she would leave no prints, and put it in Kasai's hands. Like a puppeteer, she controlled the bodyguard's fingers and made him shoot himself in the head.

The shot went straight through Kasai's forehead, leaving a hole that exuded vivid red blood like a broken water spout. Mion was grateful the gun wasn't big or powerful enough to blow off the man's head or leave any brain tissue visible. Even still, she couldn't stop smelling the blood, and she couldn't look away from Kasai's wide-open grey eyes, which stared blankly at nothing. A shiver shook Mion from the base of her spine to the top of her skull. She felt like she could throw up easily if she went over to the sink, but she resisted the urge. Locking the door from the inside, Mion left the apartment.

"Rest in peace, Kasai-san," Mion murmured as she climbed onto her bike. "If you meet up with my father in the afterlife, knock his teeth out for me. He didn't deserve mom. You did. Sonozaki Akane should never have married an outsider. And Shion and I never should have been born."

When Mion arrived back in Hinamizawa, it was half past three in the morning. There were still a few hours left before sunrise. Mion did not even consider sleeping. She planned to make good use of those next two or three hours. First, she snuck into the Irie clinic and found Oryou's room. Quickly and pitilessly, Mion suffocated her grandmother with a pillow. Doing it made her feel more awake and alive than she had ever been before.

"No hard feelings, grandma," she said. "I agree with you that Shion is a demon and needs to die. I'm taking care of her next. But you needed to be removed too. Why? Because you got too soft. What were you thinking, disbanding the yakuza, having Tatsuyoshi arrested, and saying you're going to abide by the law? If I'm going to rule the Sonozaki House, I need men—tough men—and guns. You turned chicken, old hag. So it's out with the old and in with the new."

* * *

Shion woke to find herself half-submerged in cold water in a deep, wide stone tub in the Sonozaki underground torture chamber. She was kneeling, her lower legs were chained together, and behind her back, her hands were in cuffs connected to a steel ring on the edge of the tub. Shion did not remember what had happened at first; she was confused and uncomfortable. The cuffs chafed her wrists, and the cold water, which was up to her chest, made her shiver.

"Oh, look who condescends to grace us with her presence," said Sonozaki Mion. She approached, looking as grim as the stone walls around her, as pitiless as the chains and cuffs keeping her victim in place, and colder than the frigid water in the tub. The Sonozaki heir wore her ceremonial clothes like she had a year before, when she gave Shion seven lashes with a cruel, heavy whip. The outfit consisted of loose hakama pants, a cream-white kimono, and a dark teal obi tied in the front. Mion's hair was up in a bun the way her mother used to wear hers.

"Did you know?" the elder sister asked of the younger. "You've been in there for, like, five hours. The sleeping pill really did a number on you. During that time, I've been busy tying up loose ends. Tomorrow, the festival of Watanagashi will begin, but you and I will have our own festival down here first. And there's something else you know, little sister. Grandma passed away in the hospital tonight. I am now the Head of the Sonozaki Family. As such, I am the justice of this village. I have the power to take your life."

Shion had never seen her sister like this before, not even a year ago when she was ordered to use the whip. No, this could not possibly be her Onee-chan. This was an Oni, a flesh-eating Demon. At that point, Shion remembered everything and let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Her scream was cut off as Mion grabbed her by the hair on her scalp and forced her head underwater. She held her there for maybe fifteen seconds, but it felt like much longer to Shion, whose mouth and nose filled with water before she could help it. When Mion brought her head back up, Shion coughed and spluttered, sucking in air eagerly. She felt lightheaded, and breathless, and she was shaking more than she ever had in her life.

"Mion," the younger twin gasped. "Please, don't do this. This isn't you. You're not thinking straight! Onee-chan, I believe in you. Fight the demon in your head!"

"Nobody said you could talk." Mion forced her sister's head under the water and held it there. Shion struggled, but it was useless. She had managed to hold her breath this time, but she didn't know how long she would last. From down in the water, it was difficult to hear, but she could still make out her sister's loud, bold voice.

"I'll tell you when you're allowed to talk, Shion. Tonight, the stage is mine. I hope you understand; I wanted to give you a quick and easy death, since we're twins and I have some sympathy for you. But I can't very well let you die unpunished, can I? I think I'll make you suffer all night, or at least for as long as the time you and Keiichi spent sleeping together in your apartment."

The stale air in her lungs escaped from Shion's mouth and rose to the surface of the water in bubbles. She inhaled a mouthful of water and thought she was done for. But then Mion pulled her head up again. Shion could not have spoken even if she had a fitting answer for her sister's words; all she could do was cough up the icy water she had breathed in, while greedily gulping in fresh oxygen. There was no room for resistance or even for thought. There was only water, air, and terror.

"Water torture is surprisingly effective, you know," Mion commented casually. She let Shion take another breath and then forced her beneath the surface of the water once again. "They say a lot of people give in and spill their secrets when it comes to this sort of torture. Do you know why? I think I'm learning why, from watching you. Every time I hold you under for long enough, your body and brain are convinced you're dying, resulting in extreme terror. To repeat this experience time and time again could break the bravest soldier."

Mion released her sister, and Shion started coughing so hard she almost gagged. Her body felt heavy and fatigued, and she didn't feel like herself. She was watching herself as if from a distance. At times, she thought she would float off into unconsciousness, but the voice of her sister forced her back to reality time and time again as the process was repeated: being held underwater, nearly drowning, getting a single breath of fresh air, and then forced under the surface again. Every time, she felt like she was really going to die. How much longer would this unspeakable torment continue?

"It isn't just the anticipation of death that breaks people," Mion continued. "It's also the fatigue. Over time, your body gets exhausted from holding your breath and your brain starts to slow down because it's not getting enough oxygen. Do you feel what I'm talking about yet, Shion?"

Yes, she did, though she couldn't spare the breath to speak when she was pulled out from another case of near-drowning. Never in her life had Shion been so exhausted. Never had her head throbbed so painfully. She became vaguely conscious that she was crying, and that was another danger that could cost her valuable oxygen. But she couldn't help it. Shion just wanted it all to stop. She wanted to die. She was losing her grip on consciousness.

By the time Mion finally said, "Hmm, I suppose that's enough," two or three hours had passed. Shion's eyes were open, but they looked empty. When she was not being held underwater, she breathed in short, fast, ragged breaths, but she seemed mostly dead somehow. Her body was deathly pale and cool to the touch and her skin looked wrinkly from being in the water so long. The water was filthy, since Shion hadn't been allowed to go to one of the cells to use a toilet bucket. Even the rancid smell, however, did not affect Shion. She just stared blankly.

"Look at you," Mion scoffed, slapping her unresponsive sister in the face. Shion's only reaction was a weak wheezing sound that could have been a gasp. "You look like a corpse already. I expected you to last longer than this." The demon-possessed girl sounded truly disappointed when she said, "You're no fun anymore, little sister." And she sighed. "I guess it can't be helped. I'll have to kill you."

As she got used to being allowed to breathe again, Shion's consciousness began to wander back to her. She was faintly aware that the torment had stopped, but that something else was coming in its place—something that sounded unspeakably terrifying and blessedly relieving at the same time. Death, she realized. Shion was about to die. One part of her mind begged her to wake up, to respond, to struggle—to live. The other part simply didn't care anymore.

One of the things that makes torture traumatizing is the realization of powerlessness. Another aspect of it is the realization that the torturer truly wants to hurt you and even _enjoys_ hurting you. When a stranger subdues and torments you, knowing that he likes what he's doing is sickening; but when a family member subdues and torments you, it's a little different.

Shion's own flesh and blood, her twin, and the person who knew her better than anyone _enjoyed_ harming her. That fact, in combination with the recognition of powerlessness, was so unthinkable to Shion that she decided death would be better than contemplating the facts any farther. She would rather die than process what had been done to her that night. Thus, as Mion put on a large rubber glove and drew her Taser, Shion just watched apathetically.

"Earth to Shion," Mion said, moving the Taser closer to the water surface. "You're about to die. What a disappointment you turned out to be. You're not even going to struggle and beg for your life? How boring. I'm tired of waiting, though. Any last words, Shion?"

Though she looked and sounded as submissive and apathetic as before, something urged Shion to speak. There were things that needed to be said before she lost the chance to say them ever again. "I'm sorry, Mion. A long time ago, when we were little, and you got the demon tattoo on your back, do you remember? I should have switched places with you and gotten branded. It should have been me.

"I'm sorry for not writing you enough letters at St. Lucia's," Shion continued in a deadpan voice. "I'm sorry I didn't think about your reputation when I pretended to be you. I'm sorry I slept with Keiichi, too. To me, he wasn't Keiichi at all. That whole night, I could only see Satoshi. Rika says I was hallucinating. But to me, it seemed like I was sleeping with Satoshi."

The Taser slipped from Mion's hand, but she managed to catch it before it fell to the stone floor. She was clearly taken aback. She never expected to hear such things from the rebellious and resentful Shion. A small part of her panicked. She knew what she was doing was wrong. But the other parts of her won out. Mion laughed.

"Is this you trying to win some pity?" she asked, in a tone that said the idea was hilarious to her. "I don't believe a word out of your filthy mouth. How many men's dicks have been in that liar's mouth of yours? Stop begging for sympathy. If you have a last request, go on and say it. I'm impatient and I want to kill you."

"A… request?" Shion tried to think of something appropriate, but her head hurt too much, and her mind was too cloudy. She looked up at Mion and gave a weak, shaking smile. "Goodbye, Mion. I love you. Right now you're a demon, but I know that's not the real you. Please tell the real Mion that I love her. That's all."

The gasp Mion took was inaudible, but it was there. She was shocked. And moved. Tears came to her eyes. Somewhere underneath the Demon's influence, the real Mion was crying. But tears were not enough to stop the Demon from acting. Wearing her rubber glove, Sonozaki Mion stuck the Taser in the water and turned it on.

A terrible zapping noise followed as the electricity went wild all throughout the tub of water. Shion's scream could have broken glass. Her body jerked and pulsated as electric currents flowed through her. It was like being in a bath of lightning. Her heart failed and she died in five seconds. Mion kept the zapping the water until the Taser became water-logged and ceased functioning. Then there was silence. When she looked at her sister's toasted corpse, the last part of the real Mion deep inside her soul died. The real Mion died with her along with her younger sister that night. Only a monster remained in the body of Sonozaki Mion.

"Now," said the Demon, "Who's going to be next? I suppose it will have to be our friend Rena."


	19. Omatsuri (Festival)

**18: Omatsuri (Festival)**

Satoko knew what was happening, though she could hardly believe it. Mion was going crazy in the same way that Shion had in the past, like that time she tried to beat Satoko with a chair at school. It had been a violent outburst characteristic of what Rika called Hinamizawa Syndrome. The Houjou girl didn't know much about it, except that it made people paranoid and violent; she also knew that she, herself, was a victim of the strange disease.

Convinced that her parents were secretly plotting to kill her, Satoko had pushed them over the edge of a cliff three years ago, killing both. However, as long as she took the daily injections from Irie or Rika, and as long as she stayed close with Rika, Satoko maintained stability and sanity. Unless Mion was caught and injected soon, she might do something horrible, like kill Shion. If that happened, Satoko would never forgive herself for running away.

Even though her head felt like it was bursting with pain, and even though the swelling around her neck made breathing difficult, Satoko ran onward determinedly. She was headed straight for the Irie Clinic. There, she would immediately tell Irie Sensei about the situation. The clinic was closer by than Rika's house, so it made since to go there first. And Irie Sensei would surely help.

Or so Satoko thought. When she reached the clinic, most of the staff had gone home for the night, including Dr. Irie. Nurse Takano, who also knew a lot about Hinamizawa Syndrome and how to treat it, was the only one there to listen to Satoko's news. She handled it in the worst way possible. She chalked up the whole story of Mion's insanity to paranoid hallucinations on the part of Satoko. The swelling on the girl's throat—while she insisted it was from Mion's attempt to strangle her—was credited to Satoko herself scratching and clawing at her throat.

"Even if your story was true," Takano said condescendingly, "I can't simply charge into the Main Sonozaki Estate and demand to stab the new head of the family with a suspicious injection."

Thinking of the danger that Shion could be in, Satoko lost her temper and started screaming at Takano. She ordered the patronizing nurse to cooperate or she would go to the police instead. Takano's face changed when she heard that threat. In her anger, Satoko kicked over a cart of glass vials containing valuable lab samples. Most of them shattered and spilled on the floor. That gave Takano the excuse she needed in order to suddenly, and without patient consent, inject Satoko with a shot of sedative.

She carried the little girl kicking and screaming to one of the hospital beds equipped with wrist and ankle restraint buckles. This was not the first time Satoko had been forcibly restrained, but it still nearly drove her mad every time she experienced it. Convinced that the golden-haired girl was a threat to herself and maybe others, Takano gave her another sedative along with an injection of the C103 medication used to treat Hinamizawa Syndrome. Now Satoko was completely helpless, and nothing felt worse than that. Angry tears gathered in her eyes.

"I hate you!" she yelled at Takano, even as she felt herself slipping into a forced doze. The injections were strong enough to put her to sleep for hours. "I hate you! You're nothing like Irie Sensei! You're a terrible nurse! You're a terrible woman! I hope you die at Watanagashi tomorrow!"

"Now, that's not nice, Satoko-chan," said Takano, maintaining a smile but making her voice sound slightly ominous. "I'm not superstitious myself, but I still don't think you should wish curses upon others. Especially not the Curse of Oyashiro-sama."

These were the last words Satoko heard before drifting off into a deep slumber. Once the patient was sound asleep, Takano Miyo allowed herself a little laughter. She planned to fake her own death tomorrow night, and afterward, Satoko would be sure to blame herself. To Miyo, this was humorous. And it made her happy, because Satoko's guilt would strengthen her lie.

She had more to be happy about besides that, too. Miyo believed Satoko's story that Mion had gone insane with the Syndrome; she only pretended not to believe it so she could have an excuse to let the situation play out. Some interesting data might be collected if the new head of the Sonozaki House was indeed infected. Any chance to acquire new data was a plus to Takano.

The fact that Houjou Satoko was restrained and under the clinic's supervision was yet another bonus to all the night's events. In a couple of days, Takano planned to kill Rika to test the Queen Carrier Effect once and for all and to prove to the world—by wiping out a village—that brain parasites existed. In order to do this, the crafty woman would need a way to lure Rika to the clinic late at night. It would be easy to make the shrine maiden come to her if her beloved friend Satoko was threatened.

The plan yet had to be ready for that stage, though. In the meantime, it wouldn't do to have Rika worried and thinking that Satoko had disappeared. So Takano decided to give a Rika a quick call.

"Satoko had to be restrained?" Rika asked in astonishment. "And her neck was really that bad? I thought she had been doing better, so-it-is… Takano-san, will Satoko be ok?"

Takano replied in her easy, pleasant voice, "I think she'll be fine. That is, after a day or two of receiving the stronger version of the C103 injection. To be safe, I'd like to keep Satoko here in the clinic for two or three days. Is that alright with you, Rika-chan? You can come visit her the day after tomorrow."

"I guess that's alright, if it's what's best for her condition." Rika sounded disappointed. "Satoko will miss the festival tomorrow. I think she was looking forward to it, so-it-is."

"Yes, I'm sorry this had to happen at such a bad time." Takano faked a tone of sympathy. "But then, the timing makes sense, doesn't it? A year ago today was the last day anyone saw her brother Satoshi-kun. A year ago tomorrow, her aunt was found poisoned to death. As a result, this time of year must be especially difficult for Satoko."

"I understand." In her ignorance, Rika trusted the devious female scientist far too readily. "Thank you for letting me know, so-it-is. Please be kind to Satoko for me."

"Of course. Good night then, Rika-chan." Takano Miyo almost hung up the phone, barely managing to catch Rika's sharp order to wait. "Oh, what is it?" the woman inquired, feeling a bit impatient. "Is there something you forgot to tell me, Rika-chan?"

"Yes. It's something I want to tell you and Tomitake Jirou as well. You won't believe me, but I'll tell you anyway. Tomorrow is Watanagashi. Do not break into the ritual tools shed behind the Furude property. If you do, you will be the next victim of Oyashiro-sama's curse. Even if you don't break into the shed, you and Tomitake-san need to be extremely careful. Someone will try to kill both of you tomorrow night."

Takano wasn't sure how to react; hearing this was both amusing and slightly unsettling. Could the Furude girl really see the future? How else could she know about the plan to break into the shed tomorrow? But her predictions weren't all correct. Takano planned to kill Tomitake and fake her own death, so she could go into hiding and, together with the Yamainu, carry out the plan to kill Rika. The shrine maiden predicted that Takano would die in reality. That bit was off.

"Rika-chan, your divinations are quite impressive," Miyo told the little girl cheerfully. "I thank you for the warning. But I assure you that you're wrong about one thing. I won't die tomorrow. And as for sneaking into the shed, it's not illegal, since it's not on Furude property. Why shouldn't Jirou and I have a look inside? Are you implying that you will curse us if we do?"

"I'm not the one who decides who is cursed," replied Rika. "But I can see who Oyashiro-sama will choose. In the past, I haven't been able to stop the predictions from coming true. My own parents died because I couldn't think of a way to save them in time. This year, I want to at least be sure that I tried my best to convince you. You're in danger, Takano Miyo-san."

At that point, the crafty scientist gave a long yawn. "It's late, Rika-chan. I'll consider your words. I really am grateful for the warning. But I'm a bit of a fatalist. Whatever is meant to happen will happen. Now, goodnight, Rika-chan. I'll see you at the festival tomorrow."

* * *

Around mid-afternoon the next day, Rika, Keiichi, and Rena met up in the middle of town near where the festivities were being set up. Rena was wearing a beautiful red kimono dotted with pink roses, and around it was tied a pink satin obi. Rika was dressed in her traditional Miko outfit since tonight she would be performing the ritual shrine dance. Keiichi felt a little out of place for not dressing up. He was wearing a maroon t-shirt, dark grey vest, and khaki shorts. Shaking off the awkward feeling, he chatted with the girls while they waited for Shion and Mion to join them. Rika had already explained the regrettable news that Satoko would not be coming.

Before too long, a girl approached who appeared to be Shion. In reality, of course, it was Mion. After she dragged Shion's body to the underground well and dumped her in, the elder sister headed back up to Sonozaki Main Estate and found that it was sunrise already. She showered, and changed into clothes she knew her mother would recognize as belonging to Mion. Akane was, at the time, getting ready to head to the Irie Clinic after hearing that Oryou had passed away. Before she left though, the mother of the twins asked Mion where she had been all night and whether or not they should expect Shion to come into town for the festival.

"I stayed over at Shion and Kasai's place," Mion lied. "I decided to get here bright and early to get ready for Watanagashi. Shion's going to meet me and my friends at the festival grounds this afternoon. I guess you won't be coming to the festival yourself this year, what with the news of grandma passing away."

Akane confirmed that she would not be attending Watanagashi, and then she left for the clinic. Mion changed clothes again, putting on something that looked more like what her sister would wear: a sleeveless white blouse with frills at the neck, chest, and seams, a golden brooch, and a dark, tight-fitted skirt with three buttons on the side that matched the gold on her brooch. She put up her hair into Shion's usual half-ponytail-braid and added a cute yellow ribbon. Now that Akane was out of the way, Mion planned to play the part of Shion for the rest of the day.

Mion wasn't exactly sure why she was switching roles now or if it was the best choice. She hadn't slept at all, and her thoughts were convoluted. Ever since yesterday evening, the Sonozaki heiress kept rapidly switching between thrills of pleasure, bouts of rage over the smallest and most nonsensical things, and paranoia that someone was watching her and/or trying to kill her. The events of last night—killing three people—felt like distant dreams. Mion also found herself confused over her identity. She wasn't sure if she was Mion or Shion, or if she was a Demon—some part of her mind kept telling her it was the latter.

With the mood swings, identity confusion, delusions of being a demon, and guilt and shock over her actions, it was a miracle that Mion could hold it together enough to meet up with her friends at the festival that afternoon. The one thought that kept her going was that she had to kill Satoko before the little girl found out the truth about Shion. When Mion didn't see Satoko there with Rika, Rena, and Keiichi, she felt afraid and suspicious. But she hid all her insanity behind a cheerful smile as she greeted the other three club members.

"Hey, Shion," said Keiichi with a smile as she approached. "Where's Mion?"

"Well, I don't know if you heard—" it was so easy now to use Shion's feminine inflexions— "but the old Oni-baba passed away last night. Onee-chan is taking it pretty hard. She's holed up in her room. I tried everything to convince her to come, but she said there was no way she could have fun at a festival when her grandma just died. As for me, I know it's callous, but Oni-baba hated me to her last breath, so I can't say I feel very sad."

"Damn," said Keiichi, "this is a pretty unlucky day for the club. Satoko can't be here because she's in the clinic getting treated, and Mion won't leave her room. Is it really ok for the rest of us to go on and have fun? Maybe we should forget the festival and visit Satoko and Mion."

"Satoko isn't ready for visitors yet, so-it-is," Rika responded. "She needs a day or two."

Following suit, Mion added, "I think Onee-chan would be mad at us if we all gave up our festival time just to come see her, when she wants to be alone anyway."

"I think we should enjoy the festival," suggested Rena. She started out a bit timidly, but grew braver and more certain of her words as she went on. "It's times like these when festivals are more important than ever. When things are tough and nobody feels like smiling, we all have to work together to have a good time. If we don't, we'll each drag each other into our own bad feelings. And for the sake of Satoko and Mion, we have to put on a good act, to show them that they can still come back from their pitfalls and be happy. If we have a good time today, maybe they will be more likely to think they can have a good time tomorrow."

Rena smiled over at Rika. "Besides," she said, "this year is Rika's first Shrine Dance. We all have to go watch her performance tonight. Look at her in that cute Miko costume. She's so cute!" Rena pounced on the younger girl, embracing her energetically. "Kawaii! I want to take you home!"

"Rena is right, so-it-is," Rika agreed, disentangling herself from the excited girl with effort. "Let's all have a good time. Nipaah!"

Thus, Keiichi, Rika, Rena, and Mion started their day at the festival. There were many stalls where people set up shop to sell souvenir gifts, masks, decorations, and various types of food. Some stalls offered games where one could win prizes. Some people played music, recited poetry, or told stories on the stage in front of the Furude Shrine. (Rika would be performing her Shrine Dance there too, later.) There were tables set up where one could make crafts such as origami, paper lanterns, and prayer tags to hang on shrines. Keiichi, Rika, Rena, and Mion spent the afternoon visiting each stall, having eating contests between themselves, playing games at the game stalls, listening to music, and splurging on souvenir gifts.

Before they knew it, the sun had set and it was time for Rika's Shrine Dance. It was a series of relatively slow choreographed movements made to the beat of several old drums. It also involved holding a ceremonial tool—one that resembled a hoe with purple and white ribbons and tassels and a set of tiny silver bells attached to it.

The dance would not be difficult for an adult, but for someone young, the moves were a lot to remember in addition to keeping in perfect time with the drums. Any normal child would also be extremely nervous having to perform the dance alone on stage in front of several hundred villagers. However, Rika had lived through many worlds, and she knew the dance like the back of the hand. She couldn't have made herself feel nervous even if she had wanted to.

As she performed, Rika kept her expression serious, as it was supposed to be. She moved to the right, and to the left, treading as gracefully as a cat on her traditional raised wooden sandals. Her dark hair swished this way and that. She reached out her free hand, made a grabbing motion, and then dragged her fist sideways through the air in front of her; the motion symbolized grabbing old cloth and tearing it off. Then Rika took the hoe into both her hands, well-used to its weight, and danced slowly over to the table on stage where an old cotton futon had been laid out.

Drawing back the hoe, the little girl brought it down upon the cloth with controlled force, cutting a gash into it, and then dragging it backward, opening it from one end to the other. Once the cotton was torn, Rika held the hoe upright in her right hand, beckoning the audience attention to the table with a gesture of her left. Then she bowed and the dance was complete.

Keiichi watched in admiration, thinking Rika was an unusually brave and graceful little girl. He would have been confused about the dance's meaning (and the festival in general) if Rena hadn't explained it earlier that day. Watanagashi was also known as the Cotton Drifting Festival. Cotton absorbs sweat and oils from the body as it is worn and used. Every year on Watangashi, the Miko broke apart cotton cloth so that everyone could tear off a piece. Each person set their piece of cotton adrift in the river. It was symbolic of ridding oneself of impurities.

After the Shrine Dance, everyone formed a line to grab a handful of the torn cotton. From there they all headed to the river, put the cotton in the water, and watched the little white shreds float away. Keiichi did the same. He ended up letting his bit of cloth lose alongside Mr. Tomitake and Miss Takano, the outsiders who Keiichi had met earlier that summer. Tomitake Jirou had supposedly come as photographer trying to capture pictures of the beautiful birds in Hinamizawa. Takano worked as a nurse at the Irie Clinic, but she claimed to have come to the village originally to research the ancient history and dark traditions of Hinamizawa.

Takano sparked up a conversation about this, telling Keiichi that there was another meaning behind Watangashi. The kanji character for Wata could be read as "cotton" or as "innards." In Hinamizawa, there were stories that the people in the ancient days had the blood of man-eating demons, Oni. The village used to be called Onigafuchi, swamp of demons, since the demons were said to come up out of the old swamp.

"According to some ancient legends," Takano explained, "the Oni disemboweled victims and ate their flesh. The intestines and innards that weren't eaten were set adrift in the river. The victims chosen to be dissected and eaten were sacrifices to Oyashiro-sama, and served to keep the village 'pure.' So either way, Watanagashi is about getting rid of impurities. It's fascinating to think that such horrific acts might have really been done in this village. Don't you think?"

"I don't know that I'd say it's fascinating," replied Keiichi honestly. Something about Takano made him uneasy. "I think the stories sound pretty horrifying, and I think getting excited over them is a little creepy. Er. I mean…" Keiichi realized he had been rude. He tended to speak impulsively. "I mean, no offense to you, Miss Takano. I'm sure your work is important."

"It may be more relevant work than we ever thought before," rejoined Tomitake. "A little earlier, Miss Takano and I went into the ritual tools shed behind the Furude property. Guess what was inside? There were tons of instruments and weapons for torture, disembowelment, and tools for butchering meat. It's possible that those of oldest bloodlines in the village actually continue the ancient, barbaric traditions to this day."

"I think we would know if something like that was happening," Keiichi ventured.

"Maybe we do know," Jirou answered. "You know about the series of mysterious deaths here in Hinamizawa, right, Maebara-san? Well, Miss Takano here thinks maybe the victims were taken out by a faction of villagers trying to bring back the worship of Oyashiro and the bloody traditions of Onigafuchi. Half the bodies of those said to be dead were never found. Like the killer who cut apart the dam foreman in 1979, or Mrs. Houjou in 1980, Mrs. Furude in 1981, and Houjou Satoshi last year. They all supposedly died but their bodies were never found."

Much to Keiichi's embarrassment, he felt a shiver run up his spine. No wonder his friends at school didn't want to talk about the series of mysterious deaths. "I think I've heard enough horror stories for one night," the boy told Tomitake and Takano. "I've got to go find Rika and tell her she did a good job on the dance. You two have a good rest of the night."


	20. Haihin de no Tatakai (Junkyard Battle)

**19: Haihin de no Tatakai (Battle at the Junkyard)**

Rika's Shrine Dance was so important to Keiichi that he had pushed through the crowd to get up front for a better view. Rena and Mion chose not to follow him. They had other things besides Rika on their minds. The two girls exchanged glances, and their expressions were bleak. They both left the crowd gathered by the shrine and met up in the black shade behind an empty ramen stall.

Mion with her new-age stylish outfit, long hair, and ample chest, or Rena with her traditional patterned Yukata, her petite, delicate figure, and endearing blue eyes—it was difficult to say which one was more beautiful. It was also no easy task to tell which of them looked more hostile toward the other. They stared each other down in silence for a minute.

"What a lovely yukata," Mion said at last, but in a patronizing voice. She put one hand on her hip and gave a derisive smile, the way she had seen Shion do it many times over the years. "Did you wear it to try to get Keiichi's attention?"

"That's right." Rena did not balk at her rival's aggression. She spoke resolutely. "I'm in love with Keiichi. I told him so a few days ago, and I'm waiting for his answer."

"If he really loved you," Mion scoffed, "he would have answered already. You should give up."

"Keiichi-kun said he wanted to think it over a few days," Rena stated evenly. "So I will have patience. But more importantly, Shion, why are you so concerned over this? Why are you telling me to give it up? The other day when we were all at Mion's house, you said that you didn't think of Keiichi in 'that way.' Did you lie, kana? Kana?"

With significant effort, Mion managed to hide the fact that she was thrown off her guard. For a moment, she had forgotten that she was playing Shion. As far as Rena knew, Shion only had feelings for Satoshi, and if anyone else liked Keiichi, it would be Mion. "I'm speaking on behalf of my sister," the Sonozaki girl said, covering for herself.

An idea came to her mind suddenly. "Actually, I pulled you aside because I have a message from my sister. Mion isn't only upset about her grandma dying. She's also angry at you for confessing to Keiichi while she was away in the hospital. Onee-chan really fancies Kei-chan, you know? You ought to let her have him. Mion wants to talk this over with you tomorrow morning, at a place where the two of you can be alone and uninterrupted."

Rena nodded grimly. "That's fine with me. Tell Mion I will meet her at the old junkyard where I hunt for treasure. Tell her we'll meet at sunrise. That is, if she still wants to try talking it over after hearing what I'm about to say. I know it's unkind and insensitive to say it, but I love Keiichi, so I'm going to be bold in my pursuit of him. Please tell Mion that I'm expecting a positive reply from Keiichi-kun, and that we already kissed."

Mion lost control for a moment. She covered the distance between them in a single stride, and grabbing the neck-lining of Rena's yukata with both hands, she lifted the smaller girl off the ground. "You did what?" she demanded in a snarling voice. "You kissed?! How dare you!" Mion shook Rena and pulled the yukata collar tight across her throat.

Not even this much frightened Rena into submission. With a cough, she confessed, "I'm almost certain it was Keiichi's first real kiss. I stole it. Tell that to Mion." She gave a devilish smile.

Remembering that she was supposed to be Shion, Mion abruptly dropped Rena. The shorter girl fell hard onto the dusty ground. Her yukata was falling off one shoulder and she was taking a minute to get her breath back. Cursing silently, the Sonozaki heiress realized she had gone too far. Rena was smart. She would guess the truth about her identity if Mion wasn't more careful. So she put all her effort into faking an apologetic expression, and she gave Rena a hand up.

"I'm—I'm really sorry, Rena-chan," the taller girl said, shuffling her feet uncomfortably. "I don't know what came over me just now. Maybe I need to take another injection when I get home. I care about Onee-chan and I want her to be the one to win Keiichi. But that's no excuse for violence. Please Rena, will you forgive me?"

For a few seconds Rena hesitated, trying to get a read on the Sonozaki girl. At last she looked satisfied, probably convinced that this was indeed Shion, and her expression softened. "Of course I forgive you, Shion. But if Mion is half as angry at me as you are, then tomorrow won't be a peaceable talk." She stared into Mion's eyes. "I will come prepared with that in mind." Then the petite girl turned and walked away, back toward the shrine where people were taking their handfuls of cotton to cast into the river.

Watching her go, Mion realized the meaning of Rena's words. She was going to come prepared to fight. "Good," thought Mion. "This means I won't have to kill her in cold blood. I'll kill her in a fair battle. Either way, I'm going to kill her. Now that I know she has defiled Keiichi, I will punish her. Someone like Rena, who was violent and delusional before she transferred here, will only be a danger to Keiichi. That's right. This is also to protect Keiichi."

She was doing everything for the sake of Keiichi, she told herself. Shion was prone to violence, so she had to be killed. Since the Sonozaki Group had eliminated Satoshi last year, Oryou and Kasai had to be killed so that they wouldn't do the same this year and target Keiichi. And Rena, she had assaulted students with a baseball bat at her old school in the city. Such a person could not be allowed near Keiichi. Mion was the only one who could protect him. It was a ridiculous lie she told herself, but Mion was already insane enough to believe it.

* * *

At sunrise the next day, Rena and Mion met as planned in the secluded old junkyard. They could not be seen from the road or from anywhere nearby where there might be people. Here, deep in the junkyard, they were invisible, among and between the many stacks of old furniture, cars, bags, trinkets, cans, bottles, scrap metal, and wooden pieces of old housing.

Rena had arrived first. She was dressed in black sweatpants and a black turtleneck, and was carrying a type of single-edged meat cleaver called a nata. Mion wore jeans and her favorite long-sleeved shirt, which was mustard-yellow with a black collar. She was carrying two long objects wrapped up in dark cloth. Without the courtesy of a greeting, Rena asked what her rival was carrying.

"These are katanas," Mion explained grimly as she unwrapped them. They had ornately decorated saya (scabbards) and tsuba (hand guards) with engraved symbols. The tsuka (handles) had black emaki wrap and white silk hishigame (the pieces that look like diamonds). Near the butts, the tsuka were set with two blue gemstones, one on each side. Mion drew one from the scabbard and proved they were real blades, with many folds of steel faintly visible.

"These are a little lighter and shorter than traditional katanas," Mion stated. "It's because they were made for me and for me and for my mother. It's tradition for the Sonozaki heirs and heiresses to learn kenjistu. I'm willing to let you use one, Rena. You won't be able to beat a katana with that nata."

"Don't underestimate my weapons," Rena said with the same devilish smile from yesterday. "I wouldn't even know what to do with a sword. Nice try, but I'll stick with what I know. You can keep your sword. But hey, Mion." For a moment the shorter girl looked like her usual gentle self. "Do you really want to do this?" she asked. "I'm serious. I'll hurt you. You may even die. Or I may lose and die. Could you live with yourself with then? I'm itching to fight. But if you're not really up for this, and putting on a brave front, then I'll let you back out now."

"How insulting," Mion spat at her former friend. She put aside the saya and brandished her katana. "For me, there is no 'maybe' in this. I'll definitely kill you. Let's play, Rena-chan."

With that, the girls sprang into action. Mion swung at Rena, who blocked the blow with her nata, darted around her enemy, and tried to strike at her unprotected side. In the nick of time, Mion dodged. She took a few seconds to find her footing again and then thrust her blade back at Rena, but the smaller girl had already moved to Mion's side again.

At first glance, one would think Mion would win the battle easily since she was taller, stronger, and had a longer weapon. However, Rena's petite build combined with her speed made her a deadly force to be reckoned with. Plus, the junkyard was like her own personal playground. She knew every bit of it, including which parts to stay in to keep from tripping over things or falling into a pile of junk. They were evenly matched—no, Rena might even be better. Mion would have realized this before if she had slept last night, but delusions and hallucinations kept her up.

Again and again, Rena's blade clashed against Mion's. They danced around the junkyard, blades hitting so hard it made their arms reverberate and ache with the impact. For Mion, it was a losing battle. She was more tired after each pass. Why had she thought herself so superior? She blocked the cleaver's blows, amazed that she could hold out this long considering that he was fighting one-handed. Mion's left arm was still in a cast. That made her movement more awkward, resulting in Rena's speed becoming even more advantageous.

Desperately, Mion sliced downward. Although Rena leaped backward to dodge, the tip of the katana brushed against her left cheek, and a thin red line opened, releasing trickles of blood down the pretty girl's face. Rena darted backward another few paces, expression unreadable. Was she scared now that first blood had been drawn? Mion thought so, and it emboldened her. She charged forward, swinging her katana.

And fell right into Rena's trap. The pile of junk beneath Mion's feet gave way; it was a pitfall. Rena must have set it up in advance and covered it with a layer of old junk. Now Mion stood trapped in a hole half her height, and Rena towered above her. The smaller girl struck with all her might, knocking the katana clean out of her enemy's hands. She struck again, but this time with the dull edge of the cleaver, whacking Mion on the head.

It would have been easy to slice the Sonozaki girl with the sharp end, but perhaps Rena was not trying to kill her foe. Still, she definitely wanted to hurt her. Once and twice and three times, she brought her nata down hard on Mion's head, and each time it hurt so much the taller girl thought her skull must have cracked. She felt herself losing consciousness, and her hair was sticky with blood from where the skin had split from the force of the blows. Things would have ended there if Mion hadn't planned for a worst case scenario.

There was a six-inch, double-edged combat knife hidden on the inside of her jeans belt. She had taken it from among Kasai's things in his apartment. Mion moved quickly—more quickly than she knew she could before. First she cut a deep gash in each of Rena's arms. That made the younger girl scream and drop her nata. Then Mion bent her knees and jumped, pushing herself out of the hole in the ground with all her might. And in her right hand, she held out the knife. Rena was right in front of her. Mion crashed into her, knocking her flat on the ground, and when she did, the knife sunk deep into Rena's chest.

"Ha, I got you!" Mion shouted shrilly, pulling the knife out of her former friend, and watching with glee as blood soaked her black clothes. Laughing madly, Mion stabbed Rena again. And again. And again. "Take that! This is for Keiichi! This is for the kiss!"

Mion kept stabbing her classmate, droplets of blood spattering on her face and shirt with each stab downward and pull upward. At first, Rena had screamed in pain and fear, and weakly flailed her arms as if trying to hit or push her enemy. At the seventh stab, Rena's whole body shuddered, her eyes flickered closed, and her arms fell limply to her sides. She was dead.

"Hahahahaha!" Mion could not control the insane laughter. She didn't even know why she was laughing. Her head was pounding. She hadn't slept or eaten in days. She couldn't remember who she was anymore or what she was doing. She became conscious of an unbearable creeping sensation along her skin—like insects. Spiders. Worms. They were all over her, or inside her, moving under her skin.

The Sonozaki girl started scratching herself, her sharp nails leaving red streaks on the skin of her arms, her legs, and her neck. Even while she clawed at her body in a frenzy, Mion's unearthly laughter kept putting out of her. But it gradually changed to something more like sobs. It wasn't just blood that made her face wet. The teenage girl was crying.

"M-Mion?"

The voice made her blood freeze. Someone had just said her name, and it sound like… no, it couldn't be. Why would he be here? Surely it was just another hallucination. Still holding the blood-soaked knife, Mion turned around. She saw the owner of the voice staring at her and at Rena's corpse with horror and disbelief in his wide eyes. It was Maebara Keiichi.

"Rena…?" Looking shell-shocked, the boy stumbled over the piles of junk, making his way toward his classmate's dead body. "Rena… she told me she might have a fight with you… I was worried, but I thought she meant an argument…not a…" He looked at the knife, the nata, the katana. "A fight to the death."

And then he sank to his knees beside Rena. Her shirt was torn up and soaked with blood, and a red pool was forming under her body. "No," Keiichi said in a broken voice, as he held his classmate's small hand. It was already growing cold, and there was no pulse. "No, this can't be true. This isn't real. It's an illusion."

Keiichi's voice rose into a hoarse shout as he panicked. "I mean, it's obvious, right?! That this isn't real? Aren't we all friends? Weren't we just all at the festival together last night?" The boy's head was in his hands now, fingers tearing at his dark brown hair, while tears fell from his wide eyes. "Rena and Mion always got along the best out of any us," he remembered. "Because they both believed in Oyashiro-sama, and respected the village. So, that's why…" He turned to face Mion with desperation in his eyes, screaming, "Mion, you would never kill Rena!"

The horror that Mion felt at being discovered was almost as great as Keiichi's. She suddenly felt naked. He was looking at her like she was a monster. But wasn't she? A Demon? No, she was Shion. Or was she Mion? Whoever she was, she had killed four people, actually killed them, and the weight of that only started to hit her when Keiichi looked at her with those desperate eyes. He looked like he knew everything. Not just Rena. Did he know that she killed Shion? Either way, there was no way he could forgive her. There was no way he would ever love her. A part of Mion knew that. But the madness inside her stifled that last bit of common sense, made her delusions return, and made her face turn ghastly with a misplaced smile.

"I did it for you, Kei-chan," Mion said, practically grinning at him and not feeling how out of place it was. "Rena, she was no good. She was going to hurt you. So was Shion. And I have to lead the Sonozaki Group to make sure they don't hurt you either. So you see, I did all for you for you. Even killing grandma. I—you see—" she blushed—"I really am in love you, Keiichi."

For a long minute, it was Keiichi could do to gape open-mouthed at the monster before him. After a few minutes, silently, he went and picked up the second katana that Mion had left on the ground. He drew it shakily, and pointed it at Mion. Keiichi was pale as a sheet, with eyes that seemed to be stuck stretched wide open, and the muscles on his face twitched. It was an expression of complete incredulity. About everything he had seen and heard today.

"You're not Mion," he stated. "You're a demon. Rena's dead because of you." Angry tears filled his eyes and a red flush came to his face. "And… you've killed others, too. And you're telling me you love me?" He felt hot, cold, sick, sad, and furious all at once. "Listen, you demon! I know you're going to come after me next! But I won't let you kill me! I'll end you first!"

Anyone might have reacted violently after discovering one of their friends was just murdered, and Keiichi was far more prone to violence than the average person because of the low levels of the Hinamizawa parasite effecting him. His condition rapidly worsened as a result of what was before him. He was certain that Mion was going to kill him next. So the boy charged with a shout, wielding the katana, and heading straight for Mion.

She picked up her own sword and blocked the attack. "No, Keiichi, stop!" she screamed, as their blades clashed again, and the boy continued madly swinging at her. "Everything I did was for you! I beat Rena fair and square! Besides, how could you like a little slip like her?! You're supposed to like me, Keiichi!" In turn, she took a swing at him. Her emotions were all leaning toward one thing: pure rage. "If you won't love me," Mion swore, as their swords kissed again, "then I won't let you love anybody! I'll kill you!"

"Shut up!" Keiichi howled, forcing Mion backward, hitting harder and harder with each clash.

Unfortunately for Keiichi, he really had no idea what he doing. He had never learned kenjitsu or had any kendo lessons. Impulsively and angrily, he swung his weapon around as if it were a bat instead of a sword. He was full of openings. And if Mion didn't take advantage of them, Keiichi was going to knock the sword from her hands with his sheer strength alone.

"Why did you kill Rena?" demanded the boy, crying even while he fought. "Did you kill Shion too? How dare you! Murderer! Demon! I'll avenge them. I'll avenge them myself. I'll—"

Mion pretended to stumble, and lowered her sword a bit. The feint worked. Keiichi came charging straight in. Dodging to the side, Mion avoided the stroke that would have impaled her, and facing Keiichi from the side, she sliced straight through his neck. The katana in her hand was a real weapon, and it had never been used before, so it was sharp enough to decapitate Keiichi in an instant. His head fell to the ground, an expression of twisted hatred and agony frozen on his features. Blood spurted from his neck, and the rest of his body fell forward with a crash. It jerked and pulsated once or twice before becoming completely still.

"It's—it's your fault, Keiichi," Mion panted, dropping her sword. It clattered loudly as it hit the ground, and Mion fell down on all fours. "You shouldn't have tried to kill me, Keiichi. What was I supposed to do? Was I supposed to die for you?" She crawled over to the boy's corpse, picked up his head, and cradled it in her arms as tears began to flow from her wild eyes. "Yes, that's it. I should have died for you. I'm sorry, Keiichi."

Another idea came to her without warning. "I have to keep living though, Keiichi," Mion said numbly, dropping the boy's head unceremoniously onto the ground. "There's still unfinished business. I'm sick, aren't I? I went crazy like Shion almost did that time. And whose fault is that? The cursed girl. Houjou Satoko pushed me off the stairs and tried to kill me. That's what drove me insane. Oh, I've been going about this all wrong." She laughed at herself. "I should have made sure to kill Satoko first! My mission won't be done until I kill her. So I'll finish her, and then I'll rule the village as the new head of the Sonozaki clan. Yes, that's it."


	21. Sudeni Kaibustu ni Natta

**20: Sudeni Kaibutsu ni Natta (I've Already Become A Monster)**

Satoko only slept the night of Watanagashi because of the sedatives given to her via IV drip. Otherwise she would have stayed awake all night, demanding to be released, or at least to see Rika. She felt betrayed by Irie, who backed up Takano's decision the previous night to make the little girl stay in the clinic for a few days. Satoko insisted that she wasn't dangerous, and truthfully, at that point, she was fairly stable. But Irie loved her and felt he couldn't be too careful with her. Plus, if Satoko's story about being attacked was true, wasn't it better to keep her here where her safety was assured?

As soon as she woke up the next morning, Satoko demanded once again to be set free or be allowed to see her friends. Irie said he would release her this afternoon if she stayed calm and cooperative until then. That made Satoko so angry she wanted to hit the glasses off the young doctor's eagle-beak nose. Still, she tried her best, and it seemed that her patience paid off. Rika called the clinic, and Satoko was immediately given permission to talk to her best friend. However, the golden-haired girl could tell right away that Rika wasn't calling for a friendly chat.

"I just heard bad news from Detective Ooishi," Rika stated. "Takano-san and Tomitake-san are missing. It's just as I predicted. They're the victims of the curse this year. But that's not all. There was also news from Okinoymiya. Tastuyoshi Kasai, Shion's personal bodyguard, was found dead at their apartment. It looks like suicide. The police and I have tried reaching Shion, but we can't. And then I heard about your story."

"I've been waiting for you to come hear my side of things for over a day," Satoko said irritably. "I know why you can't reach Shion. It's probably because she's… she's dead."

"That damn Takano," Rika swore in her deeper, older voice. "The other day, she didn't tell me exactly what you said happened, only that you were having delusions of being attacked. I only just heard your story from Irie-Sensei. Mion attacked you. That's true, isn't it? She tried to kill you, didn't she? It may be hard, Satoko, but you have to tell me everything you know."

It was indeed difficult for Satoko, who wanted to prove to others that she could be strong, to recount how she had been targeted by Mion and how she ended up running away like a coward and leaving Shion to the mercy of her deranged sister. "I think Mion was going to kill Shion. She might be dead already. Unless… was she at the festival last night?"

"I thought she was." Rika gave an aggravated sigh. "Now that I think of it, though, she didn't say anything about what happened between she and Mion. And she wasn't hurt at all, no bruises like I'd expect after two Sonozakis fought. That doesn't make sense. It must have been Mion disguised as Shion. She said Mion was locked in her room grieving her grandmother's death, to cover up the fact that Shion… yes, that Shion is no longer with us."

 _This is just too bizarre_ , Rika thought to herself. T _his world has too many anomalies. I thought I had seen everything, but fate proves me wrong again. A world where Mion goes crazy instead of Shion? I never would have guessed. She might have had something to do with Oryou's death, and it's no mystery that Kasai's demise is her doing. It makes sense to eliminate him first as the only one who would miss Shion immediately. Making it look like a suicide was clever. Clever? No, that sounds like I'm admiring her work. I've killed, yes, but I'm different from Mion. I'm not infected with Hinamizawa Syndrome. I had good reasons for all my actions._

That was what Rika told herself, but in truth, she was feeling extremely guilty over all she had done in this version of Hinamizawa. Unconsciously, Rika started thinking aloud. "I had to do it, I had to do those things," she said, voice faltering. "I didn't think I had any other choice. But I've become a killer for nothing. What good did it do to try to eliminate Shion? She was never the problem. Why bother killing Tamae to save Satoshi just to learn that Satoshi was murdered? Maybe it wasn't even right to kill Sonozaki Ando. On top of it all, now I have to kill Mion."

"Ri-Rika?" stammered Satoko. "What are you saying?"

For a few moments, neither of the girls spoke, each dumbfounded. Rika couldn't believe she had spoken aloud; it was a juvenile mistake, and a sure sign her mind was crumbling. As for Satoko, she couldn't believe, at first, that Rika had committed those killings. The news was too much for her. That's when Satoko actually became unstable again.

" _Murderer_!" she yelled through the phone at Rika. "Liar! Killer! I can't believe I thought you were my friend!" There were some worlds where the friends accepted each other even if they had become murderers, but this was not one such world. In Satoko's head, Rika being a murderer was a betrayal of everything she knew. Or thought she knew. Delusions and conspiracies sprouted like fast-growing seedlings in her mind. Rika was trying to talk to her, to calm her down, but Satoko was crying and screaming over her.

"You murderer! You said you tried to kill Shion! Then it's your fault she was attacked that night! And you killed my aunt! I hated her and wanted her to die, but I never wanted you do that for me! I never asked you! If you were a real friend, you would have told me about it! And how could you kill Mion and Shion's father? We've both lost our fathers. Why would you do that to someone else after feeling it yourself? And now you're saying you have to kill Mion?!"

"I really don't have a choice," Rika replied, trying to hide her frustration. Satoko was probably right about half of what she said. "Mion has probably killed Shion. She'll come after you next. No, wait. I assume she was here the night before last. That's when she had to have killed Oryou. And if she didn't kill you, it means she doesn't know you're being kept here. Damn, I can't get a read on her. Who would Mion want to kill next?"

"Probably Rena," Satoko answered quietly. "It's probably all about Keiichi. Mion really likes him. But I think Rena does too. She'll go after Rena next. I know Mion has to be stopped. But Rika, I don't want you to kill her. Tell the police. Tell them everything. Don't kill one of the people you love most in the world. Don't make yourself into a monster!"

At that, Rika gave a short, mirthless chuckle. "Satoko," she said, "I'm already a monster. I became one long ago. Long before this world. Experiencing so many worlds, only to watch my friends kill each other and end up being killed at the end every time…"

"Rika? I don't understand what you're saying."

"Of course not, my dear Satoko." On the other side of the phone, Rika forced herself to smile. "I'll finish Mion quickly. And then I'll come to the clinic and get you out of there. If you don't want to see me, since you know what I am, you can leave without me."

Without further ado, the shrine maiden hung up the phone. In her sense of urgency, she forgot something critically important: assuring Satoko that she was still her friend. When the Hinamizawa Syndrome affected Satoko, it usually came in the form of delusions that people close to her wanted to kill her. Now, she was starting to think the same thing about Rika.

Didn't it make sense, from the shrine maiden's view, to kill someone like Satoko? She had pushed her parents to their deaths. She had nearly killed Mion by pushing her, too. She was always walking a tightrope; at any time, the injections might stop working as the Syndrome reached critical level five again. Satoko became convinced that Rika wanted to kill her. After she was done with Mion, she would come to the clinic and end the little girl's life.

"I won't let it happen," Satoko muttered, biting at her nails and scratching at her neck. It felt like worms were wriggling just out of reach under her skin. "I won't let Rika come and kill me." She burst into tears and began wailing like a child much younger than eleven.

The golden-haired girl cried out with her mind, Kami-sama! Oyashiro-sama! What did I ever do to make this happen to me? My Nii-Nii is dead. My Nee-Nee, Shion, is probably dead too. I want them back! Why is all this happening? Why did Rika turn into a killer? It's all Rika's fault! After that, her thoughts stopped making any clear sense.

* * *

It was midafternoon and Mion was taking a shower. Not even the moisturizing body soap or the hot, steamy water could take away the itchiness all over her body. It was especially strong around her neck. She scratched herself until she bled. And it seemed to her that blood wasn't the only thing that came out of the tiny cuts in her flesh. There were maggots, too. Fat, slimy, white creatures about three centimeters long, they wriggled and rolled around in her flesh, and fell down from her cuts stained pink with blood. It was enough to make Mion puke again.

She thought she was done being sick. She had been sick non-stop while she used a saw to disassemble the bodies of Keiichi and Rena. Their dead faces seemed to stare right at her with wide open eyes. When they were chopped up, the limbs and body parts looked so unnatural it made Mion shudder. And the bodies smelled terrible after they were cut to pieces. It was the worst smell in the world. Mion threw up until she couldn't anymore, until there was nothing left to throw up. Every time she tried to take a sip of water, she threw up again.

Those bodies would never haunt her again, Mion thought. She had loaded them onto a wheel barrow she found in the junkyard, and carted them to the river not far off, in a place isolated from public view. Then she took each of the fourteen pieces of her friends' bodies—each wrapped in cloth or plastic bagging—and tossed them into the river. Of course, that meant the bodies were bound to be discovered. But Mion was beyond the point where she could consider that possibility. She wasn't thinking at all. The demons in her brain had set her on a course to violence, bloodshed, failure, and death, and she operated on auto-pilot.

Mion had hoped the hot shower would calm her down, or at the very least lessen the infernal itching. But her leisure time was cut short when she heard someone knocking on the door. No longer caring who saw her, Mion wrapped herself in a green bath towel and went to the door right away. To her annoyance, however, nobody stood there waiting. Had the knock been another hallucination?

Just as Mion turned to go back inside, a small figure leaped out from behind a pillar to one side of the door. She—Rika—unleashed a storm of pepper spray right at Mion's face. She had managed to steal it from Ooishi that morning. Without telling Satoko, the shrine maiden had also stopped by the Irie Clinic and taken a syringe full of solution that she knew would cause immediate outbreak of level five Hinamizawa Syndrome. It would speed up Mion's inevitable death and kill her in minutes. And when Rika administered the shot—straddling Mion's body where she fell with her hands over her eyes, screaming in pain—she did not hesitate. She delivered the lethal injection and then rolled off Mion and backed away, waiting.

"Rika, you little bitch!" Mion screamed, sitting up, and already beginning to tear at her throat. Her eyes and nose were streaming fluid as a result of the pepper spray. "How dare you!" she howled. "I am the head of the Sonozaki House! Do you think you can get away with this? Satoko put you up to this, didn't she? Or was killing me your plan all along?"

She gave a loud, eerie laugh for no reason, and then it turned into a sob and she started crying piteously. "The voices, the voices!" she wailed. "Rena, I already killed you! Shut the hell up! Keiichi! Keiichi, where is your head? Oh, I cut it off, didn't I?" And the sobbing turned back into laughter, followed by choking, and her throat became swollen from the many wounds her nails had torn into her flesh. "These worms! These maggots! Why the fuck is this happening?!"

Rika looked at her unblinkingly. "I suppose you learned such language from the yakuza."

"As a matter of fact, I did, you filthy cunt!" Mion leaped at Rika and tried to tackle her, but she was still half-blinded by the tears from the pepper spray, and she was hallucinating at least half a dozen Rikas. "Fuck you! Fuck you all! Which is the real Rika? Damn it, I'll kill you! Just like Shion! And Rena! And Keiichi! And after you, I'll finally rid the world of that abomination, Houjou Satoko!"

The towel had long since fallen off the Sonozaki girl's body as she rolled on the ground, feeling like her skin was on fire. She clawed deeper into her own flesh, her hands quickly becoming stained with blood. She looked at her hands and seemed shocked. Next, Mion started trembling, and let out a bloodcurdling scream. "It's that shot!" she shouted, looking suddenly terrified. "It's going to kill me! You came here to kill me!" Mixed with the terror was judgement and accusation. "Furude Rika, do you realize what you've done?!"

Despite her deep self-hatred, in that moment, Rika hated Mion more intensely than herself. She kicked her former friend and spat in her snot-covered, blood-speckled face. "Do you realize what YOU have done?" she returned coldly. "You destroyed the future. Thanks to you, this world line ends just as tragically as the others before it. I worked hard, you know." She fought back tears, clenching her tiny fists.

"I worked so hard. To make this world different. I thought I would stain my hands with blood so none of my friends had to do it. I thought I would eliminate all the threats before they came to fruition. I made some mistakes, yes, but things might have still worked out. If not for you. Sonozaki Mion, or rather, the demon living inside your brain right now. I speak to you. Listen. Oyashiro-sama commands that you die. Right here, right now, naked as the day you were born, groveling at the miko's feet, you will die." There was so much hatred in her voice that it surprised even Furude Rika, who already thought she knew the deepest depths of emotion.

The shrine maiden forced herself to look on as Mion tore into her carotid and the blood started spurting out. Disgusted, Rika wanted to vomit. But she resisted. She owed it to Mion to watch her die, and make sure it was quick. It only took two minutes for the Sonozaki heir to lose consciousness, and after that, the blood kept pouring from her neck for another two minutes. As the spurting and flowing tide died down to a weak trickle, the unconscious Mion went into cardiac arrest. Her life ended there.

Her life. She had been a gorgeous, healthy, and courageous young woman with a strong sense of responsibility and honor; that was who Mion had been not two weeks ago. When had she changed? Whose fault was it? The parasite? Oyashiro? Some Almighty God like they spoke of in the west? Was it Shion's fault, because she came and competed with her sister for Keiichi? Was it Keiichi's fault, for transferring to this town to which he had no connection? Was it Satoko's fault for pushing Mion off the stairs? Was it all their faults for not visiting Mion more often when she was going crazy in the Jouga hospital? Did it even matter whose fault it was?

Every time I think I have hit rock-bottom, Rika thought, as she watched her former friend die, I fall even deeper into the abyss. There is no way out. Hanyuu, I'm tired of this world. Take me to the next one, please.

"I'm done. I can't take anymore. Please." Out loud, she prayed—to Hanyuu, to Oyahsiro-sama, to fate, and to the universe—"Let me die now."

Perhaps Rika should have seen it coming, but she didn't. Satoko was behind her, dressed in a hospital gown still, showing that she had run away from the clinic against Irie's orders. She was carrying one of her dead uncle's razors. Without saying a word, Houjou Satoko slit reached around from behind and slit Rika's throat. Darkness was falling, and mixed in with the sound of Rika's dying coughs there was the sound of a woman's delighted laughter.

"There's a good girl, Satoko," said Takano Miyo adoringly. "You've gone and done the job for me." She stayed in the shadows, knowing she had to play dead for another two days or so. After that time, the effect of the death of the Queen Carrier would come to its climax, and all of Hinamizawa would be wiped out. "Thank you, dear," she called to Satoko, who looked as dead as a zombie, and as likely to kill herself at any moment as she was to kill the next person who came down the road toward the Sonozaki property.

"Rika can't hear me, but I'll say thank you, Miss Furude, regardless." Takano started walking back to the Yamainu base, leaving the little girl and the two bodies in her wake. "Thanks to Rika dying, the world will be able to see proof that brain parasites exist. So much about the world can be explained by these microscopic creatures. A ton of scientists will start studying diseases like this one, and someone will find a cure even better than Irie's C103. Or, if the world prefers, we can use the parasites for biological weapons."

The scientist laughed. "It looks like the story ends well for me and my purposes."


	22. Epilogue: Sore wo Rikaishite Imasuka?

**Epilogue: Sore wo Rikaishite Imasuka (Do You Understand It?)**

 _Rika. Rika, can you hear me? You had better wake up soon. We're going to the next world._

She opened her eyes and found herself suspended in nearly complete darkness. _Ah, I've been here before_ , she thought. The place between worlds. Scattered throughout the blackness were shards of what looked like some kind of crystal, sparkling and many-sided, reflecting a small amount of light from somewhere Rika could not see. Scenes from previous worlds played out like movie clips on some of the smoother sides of the gems. They were memory fragments.

As for herself, Rika was curled into a ball with her arms around her bent knees, floating in the dim world like a leaf on the surface of a water current. There was a slight brightness coming from her left. Rika turned and looked that way, and saw Hanyuu floating beside her, her illuminated body giving off pale purple and white light. She was dressed in a kimono and long hakama skirts of white and pink, and her long, light-colored hair swayed behind her as if moved by a breeze.

Her hair and the light coming off her weren't the only unnatural things about Hanyuu's appearance. There were also her horns—one on each side of her head near her temples, curling down and slightly forward. In addition, her large, dark eyes had a spark of red deep within them. Whether Hanyuu looked more like a God or a Demon, it was difficult to say. She was the true form of Oyashiro, though. She didn't curse people, and she couldn't be seen by normal people; all she could do to help those infected with Hinamizawa Syndrome was follow them around saying, "Gomenasai, gomenasai," and trying futilely to protect them. She was a tragic goddess in that sense.

The only really god-like skill Hanyuu had, besides the ability to see and communicate with Rika, was the power to reincarnate Rika—and thus herself—into alternate dimensions. She could only do this once Rika had died in the previous dimension. For nearly eighty years now, Hanyuu and Rika had been reliving the same tragic story of Hinamizawa, and trying to find a way to a world with a happy ending where Rika and the other villagers survived. Without Hanyuu's company, Rika would never have been able to keep living, and even with the comforting presence of the goddess, it was difficult to want to carry on after the previous horrible world.

"I'm awake," Rika said to her companion, sounding tired. Still floating on nothing, she stretched and yawned. "I wonder how much time we will have in the next world?"

Sometimes, Rika was reincarnated into Hinamizawa up to six years before its end in 1983. Other times, she had only a year, or even less, to work with in the new world. It was unsettling to have such a short time, and Hanyuu had warned her that with her powers declining, short worlds could become the norm.

"Rika," said Hanyuu with a serious expression, "Don't think about the next world yet. I want you to reflect on the world we just left behind. Do you understand it?"

"I understand that I did the best I could with what I had," replied the shrine maiden.

Hanyuu shook her head. "Then you don't understand at all. I'll have to explain. Suppose you had gotten close to your friends enough that they shared their troubles with you, including their murderous desires. It's possible that many evils and tragedies could have been avoided. There are several examples of times in this world when talking things over with a friend kept someone from turning violent. We'll start with Shion.

"In many worlds," the goddess began, "Shion goes crazy because she has nobody to open up to about how she's feeling. However, in this world, she was able to get close enough to Satoshi that the two of them shared their violent feelings and neither of them acting on those urges. Shion didn't recover from the Syndrome because you killed her father and avenged Satoshi. She recovered because she focused on loving and protecting Satoko rather than hatred and vengeance. That wouldn't have been possible if not for her strong bond with Satoshi.

"Ryuugu Rena loses her mind to the Syndrome in some worlds, and kills Rina-san and Houjou Teppei. Sometimes she even threatens the lives of uninvolved students at school. However, in this past world, Rena stayed sane because she opened up to Keiichi about her situation."

"Keiichi should have gone crazy, too, by your theory." Rika felt like arguing. She had to defend herself at least a little, though she knew Hanyuu was probably going to be right in the end. "Keiichi didn't tell anyone about his past or about his fears that his friends were involved in the series of Mysterious Deaths. Usually, the latter causes him to become extremely paranoid, and he ends up killing Rena and Mion."

"It's true that he didn't tell anyone about his past," answered Hanyuu calmly, "but that's because he felt accepted enough by all of you in the club. There was no need to open up about the past since he had already put it behind him. You're wrong about the other thing, though. Keiichi talked to Mion in the hospital about the series of Mysterious Deaths and the curse of Oyashiro-sama. Because Mion shared her thoughts honestly with him, he was able to keep believing in her and all his friends. Mion also told him all about Satoshi and Shion, so he never felt that the group was keeping secrets from him. Maebara Keiichi stayed relatively sane until the moment he saw Rena dead.

"Now consider Mion and Satoko," the horned goddess continued. "If Mion had someone to honestly share her feelings with, and someone to help control her immediately after learning that Shion slept with Keiichi, she might not have resorted to killing her sister.

"As for Satoko, even though she opened up to Shion about pushing her parents off the cliff, she didn't have you to talk to about that, or about Satoshi, or about anything, really. In the world we just left, you stayed too distant from Satoko. You were preoccupied with planning peoples' deaths. Because of that, you didn't realize how badly she needed a stronger version of C103. She pushed Mion off the stairs. Then she heard about you being a killer, and because you didn't reassure her that she herself wasn't one of your targets, she killed you."

Hanyuu kept adding more weight to her argument. "There's also Satoshi," she said. "You never tried very hard to get close to him in this world. If you had, he may have trusted you with his feelings instead of brooding about murdering his aunt or deciding to run away."

Rika was tired of stubbornly resisting, and Hanyuu's arguments were overwhelming. Still, it was painful to accept the truth. So painful that it made her voice quiver and her eyes moist with unshed tears. "Am I to believe all my work in that world was for nothing?" she asked.

Gently, Hanyuu embraced her companion there in the darkness between worlds. "It wasn't for nothing," she told her. "We eliminated another possibility. We now know we cannot find a world with a happy ending by preemptively taking lives or assuming we know who is going to go crazy. Each world is unique. Even Mion can suffer Hinamizawa Syndrome. Without this world, we could never have known that. And also, the many evil deeds which you performed in this world will surely stick in your memory. You will associate them with failure and a terrible ending. You've learned important lessons, Rika. So, I ask again, do you understand it?"

Wiping her eyes, Rika nodded and broke free of the embrace. "Yes, I think so. I was the one who ruined the future, not Mion or Shion or their father. But now I know. Because life is precious in each world, killing people is not the right way to do things. It hurts too much and takes too much out of me. It made me into the villain. I convinced myself I was staining my hands with blood for the sake of my friends, but it was all self-serving in reality."

"I'm glad you are able to comprehend all that." Despite her overall serious appearance, Hanyuu had an adorable smile. She had few occasions to show it, but this was one such time. "You're truly a wise existence, Furude Rika. And you will continue to grow wiser as we travel through the worlds in search of a happy future."

The goddess added, "There's no guarantee that my theory is right, that having your friends open up to you will always stop their insane actions. But, trying to support your friends and get them to talk, well, that's at least a better than going around killing perceived threats and losing touch with yourself and others. You are not a monster, so don't act like one."

After taking a deep breath, Rika closed her eyes and said, "I'm sorry, everyone. I'll make it up to you all in the next world. And even if the next world doesn't end well, or the world after that, I'll keep trying. I will continue to seek a world where we can be happy, even if finding it takes a hundred years. Come, Hanyuu. Let's return to Hinamizawa."

The darkness closed in around Rika and Hanyuu, and they held hands as the world spun. When the shrine maiden opened her eyes, she found herself as an eight-year-old in spring 1981. Her parents were still alive, and they were having lunch with her. Hanyuu floated by Rika's side, invisible to all but the shrine maiden. The sushi and rice balls being eaten by the Furude family tasted delicious, and the sound of Mr. Furude's deep voice was almost as pleasant and soothing as the smile on Mrs. Furude's face. The sun shone brightly outside. It seemed like a fine new beginning to a beautiful new world, but Rika wasn't fooled.

 _June 21st, the day of Watanagashi, is only a few months from now_ , she thought. _On that day… Okaa-san, Oto-san… both of you will die. I will become an orphan. As in the previous worlds, I probably won't understand the mystery of your deaths. I'll be lost and confused. But then Satoko will be there for me. And Mion. And always, Hanyuu is with me._

In a barely audible voice, Rika murmured, "Oto-san, Okaa-san, you won't be here much longer. Let's fully enjoy the short time we have left together."

"Rika, did you say something?" asked the girl's father. "You look serious all of sudden."

As she had in so many worlds before, Rika played the part of a cute and innocent child. She gave her most adorable grin and said, "It's nothing, so-it-is. Let's eat together. Nipaah!"

The End


End file.
